Arranging Love
by Danielle Salvatore
Summary: Bonnie, Elena and Meredith are witches who have perfect lives. But it all changes when their people lose the centuries old war with the vampires, and they are forced to become the wives of vampires, creatures that they believe are monsters.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

**A/N: New story! This was the one I was considering writing when I made a poll about this one and Beauty and the Vampire. Beauty and the Vampire won, but now that I finished up Vampire Diaries: Reverse and will be finishing Possession soon, I have time to write this one.**

**Pairings: Bonnie/Damon, Stefan/Elena, Meredith/Sage**

Bonnie's POV

"Bonnie, concentrate!" Mrs. Lorezzo snapped at me.

I broke my attention abruptly away from what I was doing: sending air messages to from underneath our table.

"So….sorry Mrs. Lorezzo", I stammered. I'll admit Mrs. Lorezzo scared me. Being the daughters of the royal families, of course the three of us also had the strictest tutor that our parents could find.

I could tell that Elena was holding back laughter, from where she sat directly across from me at the table, while Meredith simply rolled her eyes.

Meredith had always been the most responsible out of us. Sometimes, I honestly didn't know how she put up with Elena and I. But all three of us had known each other all our lives.

My parents, along with Elena and Meredith's, were the current rulers of our people. Our families were descended from the originals, which started the witch union. And since our families were always consulting each other at meetings, we all three grew up together.

"You girls need to play closer attention. How disappointed will your family be if you fail your exam next week?"

"Very", Meredith said, flashing Elena and I both stern looks.

Mrs. Lorezzo looked like she was about to say something else, when the dismissal bell suddenly rang, signaling the end of our study period.

"Oops, sorry Mrs. Lorezzo, looks like you'll have to continue the lesson tomorrow", Elena said, grabbing her back and quickly stuffing her things into it.

Meredith and I did the same, but just as we were about to head out the door, Mrs. Lorezzo stopped us.

"Wait girls, I have your results from your exams from last semester", she said, and we all three reluctantly made our way back to the table.

One by one, she handed us our results, and soon we were out the door.

"How did you guys do?" Meredith asked, once we were a safe distance away.

I quickly looked over my paper. "I did okay. It could have been better, but it's at least at standards."

"Damn it", Elena said, as she looked over hers. "I didn't meet standards! My parents are going to KILL me."

Meredith narrowed her eyes. "Did you study for it at all?"

Elena looked a bit flustered. "Yeah well um….I was kind of busy…."

"You were out with Gregory again, weren't you?"

Gregory was Elena's latest target. She was crazy about him. And behind her parent's backs, she had been sneaking off with him. Meredith and I were the only ones who knew, and due to our best friends/sisters code, we kept each other's secrets. It's always been that way.

"Okay, maybe I was", Elena said admittedly. "But I didn't think that one subject would dominate our entire test. I swear Mrs. Lorezzo did it on purpose."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Yes, because EVERYONE is out to get you."

"Not just me. It's obvious that she doesn't like any of us."

"Except for Meredith", I cut in, grinning at my friend.

It was true. There was no doubt in my mind that Meredith was Mrs. Lorezzo's favorite. She had the best grades, and never fooled around like Elena and I did.

"Hey, can we stop talking about her though? It's giving me a headache", I said. She wasn't exactly my favorite person around.

Elena nodded. "Hear hear."

The three of us continued to walk out of the building, and were soon outside, looking out into our town.

Everywhere, you could see young witches or warlocks practicing simple spells, like levitating a small object, like a leaf, into the air, and the boys sending small breezes through the girl's hair, starting a game of some kind of spell tag.

It was such a normal setting, at least in our world. I guess that in another world, the non-magic humans had a different setting, but I would never know for sure.

I grew up in this place. And one day, me, Elena, and Meredith would marry and start our own families, and then we would take our parent's place as the three head families.

"Hey girls", a familiar voice said, that made my heart flutter.

Matt Honeycutt came rushing towards us, having probably just got out of his schooling as well.

Matt was another one of my best friends. And….okay, maybe I wanted more than friendship with him, but I was happy with having his friendship, if it was all I could get at the moment.

"Hi Matt", I said smiling.

I knew that Elena and Meredith were no doubt whispering about me from behind my back, but at the moment, I didn't care.

Matt gave a small smile back, and I fought back the urge to blush, for once.

Both Elena and Meredith knew I liked him, and they even think that he likes me back, and that we were both just at our "shy stage".

But I wasn't sure, and wouldn't do anything like asking him out until I knew for sure that he liked me back, since it would be really embarrassing if I asked and it turned out he didn't.

I sucked in a deep breath, that I hoped wasn't too noticeable, and made myself speak again.

"So, how did you do on your exam?"

All of the witches and warlocks below the legal age got the results of their exams back today.

"Huh well, I passed anyway. But it was only at standards", he answered, looking a little embarrassed.

"Dang" Elena murmured, "Was I the only one who DIDN'T reach standards?"

Meredith rolled her eyes.

I opened my mouth to say something else, when my phone suddenly went off.

Trying to hide my annoyance at being interrupted from my conversation with Matt, I looked down at the caller ID to see that it was my parents.

I turned away from my friends, and answered it.

"Hello?"

"Bonnie, you need to get home, now", I heard my father's voice said, and there was an edge of serious in it that made me worried.

To make it even worse, I could hear the sound of my mom crying in the background.

"Dad, what's wrong? Why is mom crying?"

"Just…get home Bon, and tell Elena and Meredith that their parents are looking for them too."

I knew from the tone of his voice that I wasn't going to get anymore information over the phone.

"Okay Dad, I'll be home soon", I said, before hanging up.

Holding back tears, I turned back towards Elena, Meredith, and Matt.

"I….I'm sorry but I have to get home. And your parents want you home too", I said, gesturing towards Elena and Meredith.

Meredith raised an eyebrow. "Why? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. But….but I think it's bad", I managed, before turning away from them again, and began running in the direction of my house.

Ten minutes later

I lived in a large manor that was only about five minutes away from the ones that Meredith and Elena lived in.

Our three families had the largest houses, due to our placement in the law of our world.

I quickly opened the door and stepped inside, and was instantly engulfed in the arms of my mother.

I could feel her tears dripping onto my shoulder as she hugged me.

"Mom, what's wrong?" I asked, after she finally pulled away.

"My….my baby", she sobbed, not answering my question.

As if on cue, my dad stepped into the room, and even he looked depressed lifeless, even if he wasn't sobbing like my mom.

"Something bad happened Bonnie."

"What?" I asked, now getting scared, as to what could be making my parents, who were usually so calm and powerful, act like this.

"We….we finally surrendered to the vampires only a few days ago, the war is over", my mom answered, now calm enough to talk.

Alarms instantly went off in my head. For over a century, the witches and the warlocks have been warring against the vampires, our sworn enemy.

And now that he finally lost, gave in, there's no telling what could happen.

"Wh…why would we surrender?"

My dad looked grim. "At the way things were going, we would have lost, so we gave in before too many of us died. And they agreed to it….on one condition, a surrender offering."

When I didn't say anything, too frozen in fear at the possibilities of what this could mean, he continued.

"They….they want three witches to be sent to live with them, in an arranged marriage to three of their male vampires."

This was awful. I felt bad for the girls who would be forced to go through with this.

"But dad, how are you going to decide which girls will have to be sent there? It's awful…."

"It's already been decided honey", my mom answered, slowly beginning to cry again.

"Who…." I began, but my dad cut me off.

"The vampires were very pacific in their request. They require that the three girls be the royal daughters. It will have to be you, Elena, and Meredith."

No.

That was the only thought running through my head, and soon I was sobbing.

All of my hopes and dreams, of one day asking Matt out, and having a family while ruling along with Elena and Meredith after our parents passed the thrones onto us, would be hopeless, gone.

Instead, our lives will be ruined, if we even still had lives. We would be forced to leave our home, and the people we loved, and to live among monsters, and even be married to one.

All of my goals and dreams, gone.

My mom hugged me tightly again.

"N…no…there….there must be some other way", I sobbed, not being able to handle the thought.

"I'm so sorry sweetie. If….if there was any way we could stop this, we would….", but my mom trailed off, now too lost in her tears.

My parents were proud people, who usually never gave up, which scared me. It means that this situation was hopeless, and there was no way out of it.

Soon, I would be forced to leave my home, and live in a different place, that was scarily unfamiliar.

And I would be married to a monster, and tied with the species that has killed many of my people.

I let the tears continue to fall.

**A/N:**

**Review for a sneak peek!**

**And I have a few requests, if you don't mind:**

**. Since Sage will be in this story, can anyone give me a description of him? I forgot how L.J described him.**

**. And since I suck at story titles, and don't really like the one I have, any new suggestion would be nice, but not totally needed. :)**

**Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**A/N: Wow, over 20 reviews on the first chapter? Thanks you guys! :)**

**Anonymous responses:**

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**

The next morning, I held back my tears as I used my powers to levitate clothes, and other things into a large suitcase.

This was it. Today I would leave my life, my family, friends, EVERYTHING.

Elena, Meredith, and I were going to head off into a completely different, frightening world, without knowing what would happen to us.

"Honey, are you almost ready?" I heard my mom call up.

She was no longer sobbing, but I could still hear a hint of depression in her tone.

"Yes", I called back, hoping my voice wasn't cracking.

I levitated the last shirt into my suitcase, and shut it, and had to drag it out my bedroom door, due to how heavy it was.

I took one last look into my room, with its huge bed, satin lavender walls, and the targets on the wall that I used for magic practice, before I shut the door, heading down to the den to meet with my parents.

When I got downstairs, I was surprised to see Elena and Meredith there too, with their parents, sitting on the sofa.

My parents must have invited them over, so we could all three at least leave together.

Both of their expressions were slightly different. Meredith looked just as defeated as I felt, while Elena had a spark on anger in her eyes, obviously already trying to come up with a way to get out of this situation.

But she should know that it was hopeless. There was no possible way out of this that I could see.

Meredith's father looked grave, while all three of our mother's started crying again.

After a few last hugs, and last words, all ten of us walked out the door.

My dad told me that there would be some sort of vehicle, waiting to take us to the vampire territory, and the fact that it would most likely be a vampire driving made me shiver.

As we walked through the town, our home, there were people, ones I could recognize, and ones that were unfamiliar, looking at us with sad and grave faces.

None of them were happy that we would have to go through with this. That three of their own would have to become linked to the monsters that have been terrorizing us for centuries, and killed many of us.

"Bonnie!"

The voice came from behind me, and I turned around in surprise.

"Matt?" I gasped, as he reached us.

The others had quit walking now, and we now looking at us.

Matt meanwhile, was trying to catch his breath, telling me that he had been running for a while.

And then he grabbed my shoulders, squeezing slightly.

"You….you're honestly going through with this?"

I held back tears as I answered him. "I have to Matt. Is there another option?"

He was silent for a moment before he answered.

"No, I guess there isn't."

I gave a small smile, and gave him a brief hug. "I'm going to miss you."

Matt nodded sadly, before his face was suddenly set in determination.

"I'll….i'll get you three out of this somehow. I'll find a way."

I was about to reply, when I heard my mom call me.

"Bonnie honey, we have to go."

I gave one last goodbye to Matt, before I walked over to join my parents and friends, and continued the walk.

We walked as far as the town ended, and there, in the short distance, I could see a large white limo, with black tinted windows.

I couldn't help but feel surprise. I guess I hadn't expected to see vampires driving something so….civilized.

There was a blonde woman with blue eyes standing at the front, and just from a distance, I could tell she was a vampire just from her aura.

She gave an unnerving, almost predatory smile as we approached her.

"I suppose these are our three little 'princesses'?" she asked coldly.

I shivered.

My parents nodded, obviously trying to keep in control of themselves and not break down, crying in front of a vampire.

The vampire smiled again, and held out her hand. "I'm Katherine Pierce. I'll be you….guide into our world."

My parents shook her hand, obviously a bit afraid of showing any bit of disrespect, and Elena and Meredith followed, with me coming in last, trying to hide my fear as I hesitantly shook her hand.

"Now would you please step into the vehicle?" Katherine asked. And then she snorted, before adding, "not that you have much of a choice."

My father gritted his teeth at her comment, but didn't say anything to fight her as Elena, Meredith, and I slowly made our way to the limo.

With one last tearful goodbye to our families, we got into the car, with me on the left side, Meredith in the middle, and Elena on the right.

As I heard the limo start, I watched through the tinted windows, as my home, my word disappeared, and how we were going to descend into unfamiliar land.

We were all three silent for the first twenty minutes or so of the ride, until Elena finally spoke up, in a furious whisper, to avoid being overheard by Katherine.

"We….we need to do something you guys. Are we really going to go through with this and marry our enemy?"

I couldn't help but feel the same way a little, but I knew the situation was hopeless.

"I don't know E…."

But that was when Meredith stepped in. "There's nothing we CAN do guys. If we run away, then our people will be punished. If we refuse to marry the vampires, they will kill us AND harm our people. I'm sorry; this is….horrible for me too, but….."

Meredith trailed off, but neither Elena nor I needed to hear more. The situation really was hopeless. We were going to have to marry vampires, and there was nothing we could do about it.

I felt the tears coming again, and Elena and I both leaned against Meredith, the motherly one of our group.

We all three cried together.

An hour later

The limo ride was a nightmare, and took way longer than necessary.

If they had just let us use magic, we could have simply zapped ourselves there.

As well all three finally stepped out of the limo, we all gasped at the sight before us.

The place we were in now, looked….medieval, and not at all modern.

In the distance, I could see a large castle, right out of a fairy tale, and around it, there were small and large brick buildings surrounding it, completing the medieval look.

"Rule number one, absolutely no magic", Katherine said, scaring all three of us.

We had been so preoccupied with looking at our surroundings, we hadn't noticed her coming up behind us.

We all three immediately turned to face her.

"No…no magic? You can't do that! It's a part of us", I snapped, and immediately regretted it.

I had always had a habit of saying what I was thinking, when I was thinking it, I just couldn't help myself.

My father had told me countless times that it was going to get me into trouble someday.

Katherine glared, and I shrank back from her. "You will do what we say, without question; you're on our land now. Do you all understand?"

We all nodded, and she continued telling the rules.

The rules were pretty simple: No magic, no trying to run away outside the town, treat all vampires with respect, and obey our fiancés, once we met them.

Still, the very thought of having to be "engaged" to one of these things was unnerving.

We then descended to walk into the town.

I kept close to the group, since we were now surrounded by other vampires, all looking as us hungrily.

As I looked around, I saw weird things: vampires, laughing together, and joking, almost looking….human.

I shook the thought out of my head quickly as soon as it came into my mind. Vampires were NOTHING like us or humans. They didn't have hearts, or souls. They were cruel, killing machines, and would never be different.

I was so lost in my thoughts that I was surprised when I looked up and saw that we were now directly in front of the castle, the walk having gone by in a blur.

Katherine stepped in front of us, going over to what looked like some kind of speaker on the side of the large door of the castle.

"Darren, let me in! I have the witches", she murmured.

There was a reply from the speaker, but it was too muffled for me to hear it.

But obviously, Katherine had, and looked towards us. "You three may want to step back."

We instantly did what she said, not wanting to risk what could happen if we didn't listen to her, and she stepped back along with us.

It was a good thing we did, because instantly, the door came down, like a drawbridge.

After it was completely down, Katherine gestured for us to follow her into the castle.

I gulped nervously and did, with Elena and Meredith at my sides.

Once we were inside, I gave a quick look around.

Just like the outside of it, it looked completely medieval, complete with night figures and ancient looking pictures surrounding the walls.

I had been right. This world obviously was going to be unfamiliar to us…

We walked the hallways, we looking at the pictures on the walls, when I suddenly ran into someone, and was quickly supported by strong arms before I fell over.

Before I could even register who had caught me, I could hear Katherine's voice.

"Witch, be careful where you walk!"

"Sorry", I murmured, finally looking up at the person I ran into, and gasped.

He had to be the most gorgeous man I had ever seen, with dark hair, and dark eyes, that looked almost black.

His perfectly chiseled features completely his look, with high cheek bones, and full lips.

There wasn't a flaw that I could see.

But then I remembered: he was a vampire. I quickly took all of my previous thoughts, remembering that no matter how good looking he was he was the enemy, a monster.

He smiled charmingly at me, and to my relief, let go of my arms.

"It's no problem. You're….you're new here aren't you?"

To my horror, I felt his hands begin to move up and down my arms again, and I shivered.

"Would you….would you please quit touching me", I snapped, backing away from him.

I could hear both Elena and Meredith gasped, and even I felt panicked, remembering the rule about showing all vampires respect.

But luckily, he didn't seem to be angry. More like….amused. He gave a low, unnerving chuckle, that I was sure was supposed to be seductive.

But I wouldn't let myself actually feel attracted to him. Because of what he was….

"You're a feisty one….interesting. I am sure we will be getting to know each other….quite well in the future", he finished, winking at me.

With that, he walked past us, not saying another word.

Until Katherine called out to him.

"Damon, remember: you're expected to be at the meeting tonight."

"Of course", he murmured back, without turning to face her.

Katherine rolled her eyes, but I was focused on his name, _Damon._

No, it couldn't be….

"Katherine?" I asked hesitantly.

She turned towards me, her blues eyes looking at me questionably.

"Yes?"

"Was that….Damon….Damon Salvatore?" I managed.

She nodded. "The one and only." I thought her voice sounded a bit annoyed.

Damon Salvatore….there had been many stories told about him back with my people. He was known to be one of the more vicious vampires, one of the ones who killed, with no hesitation or second thoughts.

And I….bumped into him!

The very thought scared me.

And now I had, from the looks of it, gotten his attention.

**A/N:**

**Review for a sneak peek!**

**Also: I'm sure most of you know about L.J's firing now. The publishers, who will now be controlling the books, want pro Stelena books. Write to them and let them know we want Bamon too! I will post their email on my profile. :)**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**A/N: Wow, thanks for all of the reviews! I loved reading all of them.**

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Bonnie's POV

We continued to follow Katherine down the many hallways, and this time, I paid closer attention to my surroundings, and stayed as close to Meredith and Elena as I could. I didn't want a repeat of what just happened with me and Damon Salvatore.

Damon Salvatore….my parents would go ballistic if they ever found out we were staying in the same castle as him.

And that was why they never would find out. The last thing we needed was for them to break the treaty and to make the vampires even angrier than they already were with our people.

We were now completely at their mercy…..

Katherine suddenly stopped walking, and we did too, right outside a metal door.

She turned towards us. "You three will be staying in here for a couple hours, until I come to get you", she said, opening the door, and ushering us inside.

I was surprised by what was inside. It didn't look like a prison cell, like I expected. It was a large, master bedroom, with one large bed that was more than big enough to fit all three of us comfortably.

In the far corner, there was a door, which I assumed led to a bathroom, and a large chandelier hung from the ceiling, a light switch was on the side of the entrance way.

It didn't look like somewhere you would hold prisoners at all.

"You can spend a couple of hours in here to rest, and then I will come get you for dinner", Katherine said, "You will be having dinner with your future fiancées so they can meet you and it can be decided which one of you each of them wants."

They talked about us like we were property…..the thought made me shiver.

With that, Katherine merely shut the door, not saying another word, and we could hear the sound of the lock clicking.

She had locked us in.

All three of us stood in silence, until I finally spoke up.

"This room is actually….kind of nice."

It was a stupid thing to say, and both Elena and Meredith confirmed it when they shot me looks of disbelief.

"It may be nice, but it doesn't change the fact that we are prisoners", Elena grumbled, collapsing on her back on the huge bed.

I went over to lie down beside her, and Meredith quickly followed, none of us knowing what else to do.

"How do you think they're going to aside….who we'll be engaged too?" I asked.

Meredith frowned. "Well, it will most likely be three powerful vampires around here. And…..they will probably just give them the choice."

At the mention of "powerful vampires" I thought of Damon, but pushed the thought away.

He would most likely not be interested in getting married. He was too busy fighting. Besides, I couldn't bear the thought of one of us having to marry him. He was one of the worst of the vampires.

For a while, we just laid there, and I could feel my eyes beginning to droop.

_Oh yes, that would be smart, falling asleep inside a vampire castle…._

But sure enough, I have, and from the way Elena and Meredith's breaths evened out, I could tell they had too.

"Wake up!" Katherine's voice snapped, and all three of us instantly sat up, fully on alert.

We looked up, and saw her standing in the doorway of the room, with a small smile.

"I am actually surprised all three of you fell asleep. Tired?"

Neither of us said anything, and she simply sighed, and moved over, gesturing for us to follow her out the door.

"We should probably get you three cleaned up before the dinner. They will want you to look your best."

I held back a groan at the thought. In just a little while, we would have to come face to face with the monsters we would be forced to marry….

Katherine, once again, led us through the never ending hallway, but this time, she turned towards a staircase, and we all three followed her up it, not saying a word.

After walking for about a minute, we came to a landing and another hallway and long set of doors.

I silently hoped that I would be expected to move from place to place a lot when I lived here. I could already see myself getting lost…

Katherine turned towards the third door down, and ushered us inside.

It was a small room, complete with a mirror, and hangers and hangers full of different types of clothing. It looked like some sort of dressing room…

Katherine rummaged through the clothes, until she eventually found three dresses, and tossed each of us one.

Elena was given a long, light blue one, no doubt to compliment her eyes.

Meredith had a long, dark red one that was thin and fit her tall form perfectly.

I looked down at mine. It was a small, to fit my small size, and a light green.

"Put them one", Katherine ordered, not moving from her spot.

I was guessing that she expected us to change in front of her.

Too afraid to disobey, we all did, quickly taking off our clothes and carefully putting on the dresses.

Once mine was on, I looked in the mirror.

The dress, like everything else here, looked medieval, with the ruffles. And completely not me….

Katherine quickly ran a brush through Elena's hair, taking out the small tangles that she earned from sleeping, and placed Meredith's hair into a long ponytail.

It was a bit disorienting to see, since none of us normally put our hair up.

As for me, she simply pinned my curls back with hairpins, to the point where they were hardly noticeable.

And then the worst part: the shoes.

I gazed wide-eyed at the green high heels, trying to figure out how I was going to wear them without killing myself.

"Hurry up", Katherine ordered, and we all quickly put the shoes on, and followed her out the door.

I tried to keep up with the rest of the group, but at the same time, keep from falling. So far, I was doing okay…

But I still kept a hold of Meredith's arm, to steady myself.

After walking for another five minutes, we came to a stop, and Katherine paused in front of a large door, looking back at us.

"I'm warning you witches: you will be on your best behavior here, or you will be punished. Show everyone in this room your respect. Only speak when spoken too. Understand?"

When we all nodded, she turned her back on us again, and opened the door.

I looked over at the three men who sat at the table, and recognized one of them to be: Damon.

I was so distracted at the fact that I finally lost my balance and fell, almost taking Meredith down with me.

"Sorry Meredith", I murmured, hoping she heard me from the chorus of the vampires laughing.

Katherine glared and came over to me. "Witch, I thought I told you…."

"Move Katherine", a voice snapped.

She gave an annoyed look at the speaker, but did what he asked.

A vampire, with dark hair and green eyes, crouched down, gently grapping my arms and helping me stand back up.

"Are you alright?"

I nodded. "Thank…..thank you."

He gave a small smile, before heading over to sit back down with the other two male vampires.

Katherine gave the green eyed vampire a glare, as if telling him not to interfere, but he looked like he was simply ignoring her.

Meredith gave a comforting squeeze to my arm, but my attention was focused on the vampires sitting at the table.

Katherine came over to stand in front of us, gesturing towards them.

"The gentleman on the far left is Master Stefan", she said, pointing at the green eyed vampire who had helped me up.

Stefan seemed….interesting. He was the first vampire I ever came across that almost had an aura of gentleness. His green eyes looked like they held kindness in them, and he gave all three of us small smiles as Katherine introduced him.

But I also knew his last name…..Salvatore. He was the brother of Damon, meaning his kind looks can very well be deceiving.

"And the one in the middle is Master Sage", Katherine continued.

**(Just to let everyone know, you can correct me if I get part of Sage's description wrong). **

Sage, unlike the other two, had a mass of bronze hair and almost golden eyes. He reminded me somewhat of a lion, with his muscular, powerful looking arms.

He gave all three of us a wicked smile as he was introduced.

"And the one on the right, is the oh-so-charming Master Damon", Katherine concluded.

The infamous Damon Salvatore…..we already had met him when I bumped into him in the hallway, and I shivered at the memory.

His dark eyes seemed to assess all three of us, like someone would property they were thinking about buying at an auction.

I thought I saw his eyes focus a bit too long on me, but I brushed it off, assuming it was only in my head.

We all three just stood there, until Katherine sighed heavily. "Well, aren't you three going to introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Meredith Sulez", Meredith said smoothly, neither her expression nor tone betraying any emotion.

"I'm Elena Gilbert", Elena said, through gritted teeth.

Despite our situation, I couldn't help but think she was going to make it hard on whichever of the vampires she ended up engaged too.

"I'm….I'm Bonnie McCullough", I managed, trying hard not to look any of them in the eye for too long.

After that, we were told to sit down, and eat.

Neither of the vampires had a plate of food in front of them, but each had a glass, and I didn't want to think about what was in it.

In front of our seats were plates piled with potatoes, gravy, and chicken, complete with a lemon wedge, and a glass of milk on the side.

Again, not the type of food you would expect them to people who could be considered as prisoners.

We all three gave wary glances at the food at first, as we sat down.

But since we hadn't had any food in a while, we were all so hungry.

I took a fork, and took a small bit of the chicken, dipping it into the gravy.

I had to hold back a groan. It was good, REALLY good.

I looked over, and saw that both Elena and Meredith were also eating, actually enjoying it.

After that, the conversation merely focused on our witch capabilities, and Katherine was reading our past grades, which I'm sure she made our parents hand over, to Damon, Stefan, and Sage.

One of us was going to have to marry Damon…..

But since he was so important, he would probably get the best one out of us, which wasn't me.

Maybe he would get Meredith….the best student and witch out of the three of us.

Or Elena….she was probably the worst student, but she was no doubt beautiful, and with that and her fiery personality, she attracted guys like honey to a fly.

And at this point, I really didn't mind, since this was how I would rate the vampires:

Damon: DANGER

Sage: Mysterious/unknown

Stefan: Surprisingly, he gave off an aura of gentleness, with his kind looking green eyes. I was hoping for him….

It was all over in a matter of minutes, and Katherine, was once again, herding back to the room.

"I will inform you of who you will be matched up with tomorrow", Katherine said, as she stood in the doorway. "And then you will be moving in with your fiancée."

After that, without any form of "goodnight" she shut the door, engulfing us in darkness.

Wordlessly, we all three snuggled up to each other on the large bed, fearful of what the next day would bring us.

Katherine's POV

I walked back to the dining room.

I already had a fairly good idea of which of the witches would get along best with each of them, and I was going to tell them.

"So", I said, walking into the dining room and seeing that they were all still seated.

"From what I've seen, I think Sage should have the dark haired one, Stefan the red headed one, and Damon…."

"I want the red head."

I turned and narrowed my eyes at Damon. I figured that the blonde one would go best with him, since I could tell that she was going to be a stubborn one.

I didn't think Stefan would be able to handle her properly, so that's why I thought the red head would be best for him, since she seemed as gentle as he was.

"Why do you want her?"

Damon simply shrugged. "She….interests me. And since I'm the one who holds the most power here, what I say goes."

I gave him an annoyed glare. "Fine, you can have the red head", I said, writing it down on the note pad.

I turned towards Stefan. "Are you okay with having the blonde?"

He nodded. "But I'm sure you all know what I really think of all of this."

Stefan, being the saint he was, was morally against the idea of forcing the witches into marriage, but since he is over ruled, he is going to go along with it anyway.

I just really hoped he didn't let the blonde walk all over him….

I wrote that down, and then moved onto Sage.

"What about you? Are you okay with the dark haired one?"

Sage smiled lazily. "Of course."

I quickly wrote it down. So that was it. The outcomes of the pairings did come out not like I expected, with Sage being the only one paired up with the one I suggested for him.

Still…..things were bound to get interesting now.

**Review for a sneak peek! :)**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow you guys rock! I loved all of the reviews. And I have received private messages, tweets, and even a couple of people on Fanpop asking me to update this story (which made me feel REALLY good), I thought this one should be the next updated.**

Bonnie's POV

"Wake up!"

We could hear Katherine's voice through the door, as she knocked loudly on it.

I was instantly on alert, remembering where I was, and that this wasn't just a day where my parents were waking me up, urging me to go through with my studies.

I quickly sat up, with Meredith following closely behind. We ended up having to shake Elena to wake her up, but after only few thrown complaints before we finally managed to get her to sit up.

Meredith quickly made her way to the door, as calmly as she could.

Which she succeeded. In comparison to how I would have done it anyway.

After the door was opened, Katherine stood there, her blue eyes flat, showing no emotion.

"You're….arrangements have been decided", she said, as she gestured for us to walk out the door.

As we did, out of habit, we scrambled to make ourselves look more decent, running our fingers through our hair to take out the small amount of tangles, and straightening the folds and wrinkles in our skirts.

I was very nervous, and praying that I got Stefan, as my….future husband.

I still had to hold back a shiver at the thought, but he was definitely the best option out of the three of them.

And Katherine continued to say nothing as we walked down the hallways, and all three of us were just waiting for her to say something about who we would have to marry.

As we walked, I took another moment to look around at our surroundings, the castle: my new home.

I would have to hope for a miracle if I was going to ever be able to find my way around this place. There were endless hallways, doorways, and it was just….a confusing mess.

All three of us nearly jumped when Katherine suddenly stopped in front of a door, and my breath quickened.

Was this a door that led to another room? The room of one of the vampires….

"You", Katherine said, pointing towards Meredith.

Meredith said nothing, and just quietly stepped up in front of us, showing no fear.

I had never had more respect for her….

"This is the room to Master Sage's quarters. He will be the one for you to marry. And he will further instruct you with his rules and what he wants from you as a wife."

So Meredith would have to marry Sage, the vampire with the animalistic aura of a lion….at least to me anyway.

Now it would either be me or Elena who ended up stuck with Damon….

I didn't know which was worse. Imagining myself married to Damon, the killer of many of our people, or Elena, one of my best friends being married to him….

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Meredith hugged me, and I quickly hugged back.

"Make sure Elena doesn't do something stupid", she whispered quietly into my ear, quietly for only me to hear her, before releasing the hug.

She quickly hugged Elena, and was then ushered into the room, as Katherine opened the door.

I then watched as she disappeared into the room, before Katherine firmly shut the door again.

"Move along", she ordered smoothly, and we did what she asked.

Would she take us to Damon or Stefan's place next? And which one of us would be leaving?

Elena took my hand as we walked, and I suddenly realized that I had been shaking.

We walked for a couple of minutes, until we came to a stop, once again, in front of a door.

Katherine must have worked here a long time to be able to remember where everything was without ANY problem….

We waited in silence for her to announce which vampire lived in the room, and which one of us would be staying there.

"You", she said pointing towards me.

I nervously stepped forward. "Yes?"

"This is Master Damon's quarters. He requested that you would be the one to become his wife."

My heart sank, and my pulse quickened.

"He….he requested me?"

It was bad enough that I would have to marry him….but the fact that he actually requested me, for some reason, brought shivers to my very core. It meant that he must have something….already planned for me.

Katherine nodded, and then glared, in an almost irritated looking way.

"I had originally suggested THAT one for him", she said, pointing at Elena as if she were an object, causing Elena to silently glare. "But he was pretty insistent that you would be the one he married."

Why would he have wanted me? I had thought for sure that if it had actually come down to letting him choose which one of us he wanted to marry, he would have chosen Elena or Meredith hands down.

But before I could ask any questions, Katherine threw open the door, waving at me impatiently to step inside.

"Come on, I don't have all day."

I turned and gave a quick hug to Elena.

_Please, don't do anything stupid, _I sent to her telepathically, remembering Meredith's words.

I panicked slightly, remembering the rules about no magic, but luckily, Katherine didn't seem to notice.

_I'll try_, she sent back, but she was giving me a small smile, telling me that she really would control herself.

I broke hug, and sucked in a deep breath, turning back towards the doorway.

I finally stepped into the doorway, trying to ignore my fear, but failing miserably.

"About time", I heard Katherine murmur, before she closed the door behind me, no doubt concealing me inside.

I looked up from where my gaze was on the ground, and gasped.

It was nothing like the room Elena, Meredith, and I stayed in last night. It was HUGE.

There was a grand staircase that led to large second floor which I assumed led to more doors.

On the first floor that I was standing on, there was a huge, fireplace, with a roaring fire already lit, about ten feet away from where she stood to the left, and a den, with two huge couches by a large TV set.

And I could only imagine what was on the second floor….

Overall, the living space was very big, and modernized, while the rest of the castle, from what I've seen, looked very lost in time….

I wondered if the doors Elena and Meredith walked through led to something like this…

It was then that I realized I was alone. Damon wasn't in sight.

Normally, I would have been relieved at this, but I didn't want to get into any trouble…

"Hello?" I called out, walking further into the quarters. "Is anyone in here?"

No reply.

I walked towards the fireplace, still calling out for someone.

"What do you think?" a voice suddenly asked from behind me.

I nearly jumped five feet into the air, and lost my footing, and felt strong arms wrap around me as they caught me, and set me back on my feet.

I turned around, and held back a gasp.

It was Damon.

Great. He had now stopped me from falling twice, in the 24 hours I've known him.

"You…you scared me", I stated a little breathlessly, trying to calm myself down.

He rolled his eyes. "I figured that."

We were both silent for a moment, me because I didn't have anything to say.

"What do you think?" he asked, repeating his question from before.

"Huh?" I asked, wanting to smack myself for sounding so stupid.

I could tell he was fighting to keep his patience.

"The quarters. What do you think of it?"

I froze. I hadn't expected him to ask me something like that.

"Umm, well….it's…..nice", I finally admitted.

And it was. I was sure that I had watched too many vampire movies back home, because I had expected to see coffins, and chains.

He grinned, and my heart pace immediately sped up, in fear.

We were all alone in here. He could do whatever he wanted to me and no one would ever know…

Not that anyone who could do something would care anyway. I had to remember that I was in a castle filled with monsters….

He grabbed my arm with precise firmness, lacing it through his.

"I'll show you around."

I walked along his side as he led me up the stairs, not having another choice.

Meredith's POV

After I left Bonnie and Elena behind, I made my way through the door, quickly hearing the sound of the door slamming shut.

Keeping as calm as possible, I looked up, surveying my surroundings…..

And nearly jumped out of my skin.

He was standing in front of me, the vampire that I was to marry, with his mass of bronze hair, and a lazy grin.

I took a deep breath, trying not to show my fear.

He continued smiling. "Why, hello _sombre beauté aux cheveux. _It's a pleasure to meet you", he said in a voice that was only slightly flirtatious.

I narrowed my eyes, not letting my guard down. "Hello."

We were both silent for a moment, and I saw his eyes study me, seeming to try to take in every part of me.

"So it seems that you will be the one becoming my _chéri _eh?"

I didn't know what the word meant, and I was slightly annoyed that he kept using terms in French, where I couldn't understand, but tried not to show it.

"What do I do now?" I asked, keeping my voice calm. The last thing I wanted to do was make a vampire, who I would end up marrying, angry.

Sage shrugged lazily, and the memory of Bonnie comparing him to a wild lion flashed through my mind.

He did indeed; almost look like a lion, stretching after a nap.

"Well, we could start with a tour of the quarters, and the rest of the castle. You most likely will want to know more about this place now that you will be living here."

I nodded. "That would be nice."

It pained me to have to be nice to one of these things, but it was the only way to survive, and to keep the peace between them and my people. I only hoped that Bonnie and Elena would be able to do the same….

But it was then that I turned slightly, and to my horror, accidently bumped the vase that had been sitting on the table, knocking it to the ground, causing it to shatter in millions of pieces.

I panicked, and looked hurriedly at him, feeling my usually calm exposure slipping.

"I'm sorry! I'll….."

"Why don't you just use your magic?" he asked flatly, interrupting me.

I looked at him in surprise. "What?"

"Pardon me, _madam_, but you are a witch, am I correct?"

I nodded, not knowing where this was going.

"Then you have magical abilities, do you not? Just use it to fix the vase. I know witches are far more capable of other things more advanced than that, so it shouldn't be a problem for you."

He was right. I could very easily fix the vase. But Katherine had very clearly said no magic….

"We aren't supposed to use magic. You and the other two vampires said it yourself…."

He shook his head. "Ahhh the Salvatore brothers? They are my friends, but can be such sticklers for the rules."

When I didn't say anything, he continued.

"I personally find many of the rules tiresome and well….pointless. I honestly don't see the issue with you and your friends using magic. This place is pretty bland….I think it would be interesting to have some magic going on here."

I looked at him in disbelief. "We could both get in serious trouble."

Actually, only I would get in trouble most likely. But I thought it would sound more important to him if it included both of us.

He gave a small grin. "Which is why we won't tell anyone."

I sighed, and reluctantly muttered the spell, and instantly, the vase went back to its original form, back on the small table.

"I can't believe I just did that."

Sage frowned. "Why not _belle fille? _You ARE a witch; you're supposed to use magic."

"Yes, but not in a place where I could get killed for it", I whispered.

He gave a small grin again. "Tell you what: I will allow you to continue using magic in the quarters, without anyone finding out, as long as you don't get me into trouble. That means: do not let Damon or Stefan, the vampires your friends will be marrying, know, and no trying to escape or powerful spells that will catch attention. Deal?"

He held out his hand.

I narrowed my eyes.

But I did shake his hand. "Deal."

But I knew I still couldn't trust him. I was going to keep my guard up….

Elena's POV

After Katherine shut the door, trapping me inside, I gave a cautious look at my surroundings.

It wasn't like I thought it would be. The room was HUGE, and very modernized, something that I hadn't pictured a vampire living in.

But he was still a monster, despite if he was "the gentle one". Or at least, that's what Bonnie called him.

"You must be Elena."

I quickly spun around and saw him, the green eyed, dark haired vampire standing near the middle of the first floor of the quarters, smiling in what I think was supposed to be reassuring way.

But it was all a façade. And I wouldn't fall for it.

"Yes" I answered flatly and coldly.

His smile didn't seem to waver, despite my attitude towards him.

"I'm Stefan Salvatore. It's nice to meet you….."

I waved him off. "Let's get one thing straight: don't try to be nice to me. You don't like me, and I don't like you, but we're both stuck in this situation. But let's not pretend that this 'relationship' is something that it's not."

After I finished my rant, I felt myself cower slightly; remembering the rules Katherine told us about respecting all vampires, and my promises to Bonnie and Meredith about behaving.

Stefan merely sighed. "I know you're upset, and I'm sorry that you and your friends have been forced into this situation. But you're not going to make this any easier for yourself if you act this way towards the vampires here. If I was like the others, you may have been in serious trouble right now."

I tried to hide my fear.

He still seemed to have that gentle aura about him, but his smile was no gone.

"Come on, I should show you around", he said, trying to grab my wrist, but I backed away.

"I can walk perfectly fine without you grabbing me, thank you", I said in a flat voice.

He shook his head, but did what I asked, and didn't try to grab me again. "Come on."

I followed him as he made his way up the staircase.

Bonnie's POV

"And this is the garden", Damon said, as we both looked out from the balcony.

It was a view he had from his bedroom. Or should I say OURS now?

I held back a shudder at the thought. Yes, very recently, I had found out from him that we would have to share the same bedroom for now on, since I was his future wife.

I defiantly wasn't looking forward to having to spend my first night here.

"It's nice", I said dumbly.

I was sure he was getting tired of me already. I had been saying the same thing for basically everything he pointed out to me today, but I was nervous.

And he had already gone over the rules that Katherine had already told me, so that they were "sealed in my mind", or something like that.

He laced my arm into his again, and led me back inside the quarters, and off the balcony.

"You are free to go anywhere you want in the castle, or on its grounds."

He then stopped, and turned me towards him, forcing me to look him in the eyes, grabbing both of my shoulders so tightly that it almost hurt.

"But you must know that if you try to escape: you WILL get caught, and you WILL be punished, and I will make sure that it will be a suitable punishment."

His eyes were cold, telling me that he was serious.

I nodded. "Ye….yes sir."

He let go of his grip on my shoulders, and I held back a sigh of relief.

"If you follow those rules, I'm sure we'll get along….swell."

The tone he used was almost seductive, and I grew even more afraid.

How I wished now that Elena, Meredith, and I had just been normal witch girls. In the past, we had always been proud of our royal lineage, and the fact that the three of us, would one day marry, have our own children, and rule the witches together.

But now I wished more than anything that we could have been normal, like Matt, or that Vicky girl.

Damon's voice broke me out of my thoughts.

"You and your friends will have to visit Katherine soon. She needs to get you ready for the dinner with our king and queen."

My eyes widened.

**A/N:**

**Review for a sneak peek!**

**Sorry the couple's scenes were so short, but there will be plenty more Damon/Bonnie, Meredith/Sage, and Stefan/Elena to come :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**A/N: Holy crap you guys! I got SUCH good responses from the last chapter that I thought this one deserved the next update. Thanks so much! I'm SO sorry I've been slow lately, but it is the end of the school year and I've been swamped with homework. So sadly, the updates on all my stories are going to be slow for the next few weeks. But as soon as school ends, I'll be on FIRE. You'll probably get tired of seeing all of my updated stories spamming the VD archive lol.**

**Samantha: Thanks for reviewing! So glad you liked it.**

**P: Glad you like this story, and Beauty and the Vampire (even if you prefer this one). Thanks for commenting!**

**Me: Thanks so much! And I know, I'm so happy about the responses I've gotten for this story.**

**Samhopelove: Yes Bamon is the main focus, but I promise there will be more Meredith and Elena POV, along with Stefan/Elena, and Meredith/Sage. Thanks for the review :)**

**Me: I've been mega slow on updates lately, but I PROMISE that in a few weeks, after school ends, I'll be updating like crazy. :)**

**Valerie: Thank you! And Bamon FTW :)**

**Sorry can't say: There will defiantly be a Bamon fight at some point in the story. :) But they'll learn to trust each other eventually. Thanks for commenting.**

**Cj: Thank you! I'm so glad you like this story so much. And I agree, I think all of these parings are epic 3**

**LadyOfSunn333: Thank you! And don't worry; I understood your review just fine. Glad you like the story :)**

Bonnie's POV

I held back a groan as I put on yet another dress that Katherine threw at me.

Like Damon had told me, we were getting ready for yet another dinner, but this time, we were going to meet the supposed rulers of this place.

The very thought made me want to quiver. I had already been scared enough by meeting Damon, Stefan, and Sage, and now we were being forced to meet and talk with their leaders, the ones who had ordered for so many of our people to be killed.

From the corner of my eye, I could see Meredith whispering something furiously to Elena, as she put long golden hair into a long ponytail for her.

I assumed that she was most likely telling Elena to behave herself at the dinner.

"Are you witches ready yet?" we heard Katherine's impatient voice snap from the other side of the door.

After Meredith as successfully put Elena's hair up, she hurriedly looked at me, and in lighting speed, began to pin my curls back, the same way Katherine had done when she'd been preparing us to meet our future vampire husbands.

"Just a minute "Lady Katherine", she called out politely.

That was Meredith for you. She was always looking out for Elena and me.

When we were finally all ready, I slowly opened the door and stepped out, with them following closely behind me.

Katherine stood directly outside the door. Since we were absolutely not to be trusted, it seemed that we had to have some sort of vampire escort with us at all times.

We walked alongside Katherine as she once again led us down the huge maze of a castle.

"I hope you understand that the same rules that applied to last night's dinner also apply to this one. You will only speak when spoken to; you will address both King Leal and Queen Drina as 'Your Majesty' and you will be respectful and polite throughout the entire dinner. If you don't, you will be severely punished."

None of us said anything, but Katherine seemed satisfied with the silence, as if she hadn't been expecting us to answer to anything she said.

We finally neared the same door we had entered last night, when we met Damon, Stefan, and Sage. I was guessing this room was where most of the important meetings and dinner of the castle took place.

"Why hello my little red witch."

I looked up, startled, and peered into the dark eyes of Damon Salvatore, who smiled charmingly down at me.

Around me, I could see that both Elena and Meredith's vampire fiancés had also shown up.

Stefan gave Elena a kind smile, one that she only retuned with a glare as she reluctantly allowed him to lace her arm through his, and together, they walked into the doorway.

Sage took Meredith's hand, softly kissing before he followed Stefan's lead, and laced her arm through his.

Though she didn't glare at Sage like Elena did at Stefan, Meredith's expression remained impassive.

After Sage and Meredith had disappeared through the doorway, and it was just me, Damon, and Katherine, the silence broke.

Damon grinned at Katherine, while she only glared at him.

"I thought you didn't like to come to these meetings Kat."

"Don't call me Kat", she snapped, and then shook her head. "Unfortunately, I'm required to attend this dinner, since I am in charge of the witches' transition into this world, which is what this meeting is about."

Damon's grin widened, knowing it seemed to irritate her.

"Well, I'm sure it will be just….wonderful to have you there."

Katherine rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else.

To my nervousness, Damon then turned his full attention back on me.

"Well little witch, I presume we should probably get going."

Wordlessly, he laced my arm through his, and together, we walked through the doorway.

When he stepped inside, I quickly noticed the vast number of people in the large dining room.

Last night, it had only bee me, Meredith, Elena, Damon, Sage, Stefan, and Katherine. But now, the room was bustling with vampires, and the entire long table was nearly filled with guests.

As we walked past them, many of the vampires shot me a look of hunger, and the fear pierced through me even thicker.

On instinct, and without thinking, I moved slightly closer to Damon, but stopped myself when I realized what I was going.

_Real smart McCullough. In an attempt to protect yourself from vampires, you rely on another VAMPIRE for comfort, and not only that, a vicious one._

I put myself at as far of a distance as I could from him. At least, as far as I could with him still having a hold on arm.

Luckily, he either didn't seem to notice, or didn't care.

"Ahhh Damon Salvatore….what a….pleasure to see you", a cold voice said flatly.

I hesitantly looked up, and saw another vampire, his cold blue eyes staring down at us.

He was taller than Damon, and had an air about him that made him seem even more dangerous.

With his head of golden hair, light blue eyes, and chiseled features, he was almost as good looking as Damon.

But one thing I grew up knowing: A vampire's misleading good looks was one of its greatest weapons. They needed it to attract humans who didn't know any better.

Damon politely nodded at the man. "Good evening Klaus."

But though he acted polite, I could tell from the mean look in both of the vampire's eyes that they didn't like each other.

"I'm actually surprised both you and Sage are here tonight Salvatore. You two have never been ones to….follow orders", Klaus said, turning away from us for a second to make a quick glance towards Sage.

I looked the way he was looking, and saw that Elena and Meredith were seated at the long table beside Sage and Stefan.

Elena managed to make her expression look impassive for once, obviously remembering what Meredith had said about behaving herself tonight, and both of my friends seemed pretty calm surrounded at a table by all those vampires.

I wish I could be that calm….

"You and I have very different opinions on….following orders Klaus. I am here simply because I have to be, in order to settle my marriage."

I still had to hold back a shiver at the word "marriage".

For the first time this night, Klaus seemed to notice me.

"Oh, so you're his witch?"

I nodded feebly. "Yes…..s…..sir."

I'll admit this vampire really scared me. He seemed scarier then Stefan, Sage, Damon, and even Katherine had. But I couldn't pin point exactly why.

He looked me over, sizing me up like a farmer would cattle, and I had to bite my tongue to stop me from saying anything stupid and getting myself possibly punished.

"Hmmm why not the blonde or dark haired one? Surely they were more your style", he said, and in my relief turned his attention back on Damon.

Damon glared. "I believe that my preference in witches is none of your concern."

Klaus continued to smile, not looking offended at all, and in a way that left be completely intimidated and frightened.

He turned his attention back on me, but still continued to speak to Damon.

"I am simply trying to see what exactly it is that you see in this one", he murmured, leaning slightly closer.

I clenched my fists nervously, forcing the urge to run away out of my mind.

He ran a hand through my red hair, and I made myself not say anything. The last time I had gotten a vampire's attention, I ended up becoming his new fiancé. The last thing I wanted to do was to risk getting unwanted attention again.

But when he suddenly vamped out, fangs protruding and veins appearing around his eyes, and I tried to shove at him, desperate to get away.

"Let….let me go!" I begged, still pushing and shoving.

M efforts did nothing, and I came to the horrible realization that my worst nightmare was coming true. Being attacked by a vampire….

But before I could get a scream out, I felt Klaus's grip on me disappear, and he was suddenly pulled away from me.

I felt someone else grab me, and before I could really process it, since it happened so fast, I found myself placed behind Damon's back.

I peeked around him and saw that Damon was now vamped out as well, and was shooting a deathly glare at Klaus.

"Touch her again, and you'll regret it. She's MY witch", Damon growled, his voice flat but deadly.

I looked around and saw that everyone in the dining room had gone silent, and were staring at us.

Klaus calmed himself down, his face returning to its normal form. "I hadn't realized you'd grown a soft side, Salvatore."

"I haven't. I just don't want other vampires nibbling on what's mine."

It grew silent again, and the two vampires continued to glare at each other, the tension in the air obvious.

A female vampire from the table spoke up.

"Klaus, could you do us a favor and go check up on the gate? We wouldn't want it unlocked after the sun sets with everything going on."

Forcing himself to look away from Damon, Klaus turned towards the female vampire.

"Of course your majesty."

I held back a gasp and looked back towards the female vampire.

She was beautiful. She had long, flowing, hazel hair, and very light blue eyes. Her face was pale, and her overall appearances look so delicate, as if she was made of china.

And according to what Klaus said, she was the queen.

She gave a small, almost unnoticeable smile, and motioned us forward.

"Damon, why don't you bring the witch over to the table? It's about time that we started the dinner."

It was then that my image of her completely faded. _Damon, why don't you bring the witch over to the table?_

Despite the small smile and gentle appearance, she was still like the rest of them: a vicious vampire who thought of us as lower class.

Damon didn't say a word in responses to her, just nodded, and began to pull me in the direction of the table.

But I could tell from the look in his eyes that he had a lot of respect for her.

I sat in the middle of Damon and Sage, and from around Sage's back, Meredith shot me a small smile of comfort.

Unlike Elena and I Meredith seemed totally content as she sat in the middle of Sage and Stefan, but I knew deep down she was just as afraid as we were.

The beautiful vampire who had turned out to be the queen, sat beside a male vampire, with light chestnut hair, silver eyes, and the structure that was lean and tall….that for some reason, reminded me of a cat.

All in all, like the queen, he was inhumanely beautiful.

The woman smiled warmly at us, obviously wanting us to somewhat trust her.

"Hello my dears, I am Queen Drina. And the handsome vampire sitting beside me is King Nathaniel."

Nathaniel simply nodded, his expression showing no emotion, unlike the warm and kind aura his wife was TRYING to pull off.

"We planned this dinner to simply give you a proper welcome to your new home…..and to make sure you know all of the future arrangements and rules."

To give us warm welcome….as if we weren't prisoners here. I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from speaking out.

And if I was having a problem not saying anything, I couldn't imagine what Elena was going through….

At first, she told us what we already knew from Katherine, and I hesitantly began to eat the food that was placed in front of me, drowning out her words.

This time, it was a plate with sliced, seasoned potatoes and honey-roasted ham. I figured it was okay to eat, since they seemed to need us, and there had been nothing wrong with the food last time.

I took a bite of the ham and…..like the chicken last night, it was delicious. However, I tried to not make it look too obvious that I was enjoying it.

And while, until now, I had been drowning out the queen's words, but she said something that finally gained my attention again.

"In a few weeks time, we will expect that you three have wedding dates planned for you and your fiancés", she said, looking towards Damon, Stefan, and Sage.

What? How long had I been zoning out?

"In….in a few weeks?" I squeaked, completely forgetting about the rule about not speaking unless spoken to."

Meredith and Elena both shot me frantic looks, and I realized how bad this could turn out to be….

"Don't mind my witch. She…..hasn't quite learned the way of things yet. But I'll be sure to make them more clear to her when we get back to my place", Damon said flatly, looking respectfully towards both the queen and king.

The queen nodded, and then surprised me by actually answering my question.

"Yes in a few weeks. We don't want to dwell on the wedding dates for too long….if we're going to accomplish all of our plans."

I desperately wanted to ask her about "the plans" but kept my mouth shut, figuring I had already said enough for the night. I was pushing my luck as it was.

When the dinner finally ended, I was relieved and nervous at the same time.

Relieved that I would be able to get away from this situation, and the royals, but nervous, because now I would have to….to go back to being alone with Damon.

Everyone in the room began to dismiss from it slowly, and I saw that Sage and Stefan were already taking Meredith and Elena in different directions, before I had a chance to say or wave goodbye.

Damon once again had a grip on my arm, and began to steer me in the direction we came from.

When we were far enough away from the others, Damon suddenly stopped, and turned me to face him.

"Listen, little witch, I was able to bail you out this time, but if you do anything stupid like that again, I won't cease to let them punish you."

For once, his voice didn't sound cold or threatening, it was just flat, as if he was simply stating a fact.

I said nothing, and only nodded.

It seemed to be enough for him, and we continued our walk through the hallways, until we finally arrived at the large room that he had showed me through. The place that I would now have to call my home…

Damon unlocked the door, and motioned me inside.

I did what he said, and once we were both inside, he shut the door, once again locking it.

Like last time, I couldn't help but take a long glance around the beautiful, huge suite. It was definitely beautiful, I couldn't deny that.

"There is a guest room prepared for you, as you will not have to move into my room until we're officially married", Damon said, surprising me.

I had been filled with dread all night about the chance of having to stay in the same bed as Damon, and was now a little relieved at finding out that it could at least be delayed.

I was silent as he led me up the staircase, and down the hallway of doors, until we finally stopped at the second to the last one.

"It's right next to mine. So it wouldn't be wise of you to try to run away."

I nodded, and slowly opened the bedroom door, stepping inside.

At first, I was consumed in darkness, until Damon reached over and switched on the light that was a little to the left of the door, illuminating the room.

Like I had for pretty much every room in this place, I had to hold back a gasp.

The room was of course beautiful, with a huge, comfortable book that looked big enough to fit three average sized people, let alone on small, petite girl like me. The far right fall had a huge bookcase, filled to the max with books….so many books.

On the ceiling, the light came from a grand chandelier, that looked to sophisticated to be kept in just a one-person bedroom.

And this was only a guest room….

I looked back towards Damon, who was already stepping out of the room.

"I will see you tomorrow….."He began, but I cut him off.

"Wait…..could…could I ask you something?"

He frowned. "What do you want to know?"

He seemed surprised that I was even talking to him.

I sucked in a deep breath. "Why did you help me back there? When I spoke up at the queen? Didn't you think I deserved to be punished?"

I had thought that a vampire like Damon Salvatore would be a big sticker of the rules when it came to punishment….

"Would you'd have liked it if I hadn't helped you?"

"No but…."

"Then that's all that really needs to be said", he said, before shutting the door.

And from the "click" I heard afterwards, I knew he had locked me in.

After he was gone, I looked around the room again and sighed.

Damon Salvatore was a monster, so I couldn't help but wonder why he would even care if I was punished, a girl he'd just met.

He had turned out to be a very complicated puzzle.

And since I was already stuck with him anyway, why not take a chance, and try to solve it?

Stefan's POV

"This will be your room", I said, trying to make my voice was polite as I could.

I already knew this witch, Elena, hated me; there was no need to make matters worse.

"Oh, so you're not going to make me share a room with you?" she asked coldly, her blue eyes betraying no emotion.

I shook my head. "No….that's not required until we're officially married."

With that, her eyebrows rose. "So it's not REQUIRED yet? What else will be REQUIRED when we ARE married?"

I couldn't win with this girl. As much as I tried to be patient with her, I could feel the need to be nice slowly slipping….

And she just kept going…..

"Will I be REQUIRED to give you by blood? Will I be REQUIRED to sleep with you? Will I be…."

I shut the door in her face, wanting to put an end to it before I did something I'd regret.

I made sure the door was locked, and walked into my bedroom.

As difficult was she was, I couldn't help but admire her a bit. She was defiant, and obviously not going let anyone step all over her, even if it killed her.

And I had a bad, sinking feeling that she could easily put her life at risk, if she didn't at least tone down her behavior.

Meredith's POV

As Sage and I walked back into the room, I swiftly used a quick, easy spell that at once turned all of the lights on, taking away the darkness, remembering that I had his permission to use magic.

He looked at me, seeming almost…impressed, as if he had ever seen something like that before.

Which was strange…..since our species have been at war with his for over centuries.

"What….have you never seen a witch perform a simple spell before?"

To my surprise, he shook his head.

"No _jolie femme, _I haven't."

I gave him a look of disbelief. "You're telling me that after righting all of these years in the war, you've NEVER seen a witch or warlock perform magic?"

He shrugged, obviously seeing no big deal in the statement. "I never fought in the war. I was more of a….overseer, here in the castle."

So at least he wasn't a major killer like Damon (I shuddered to think about what Bonnie was going through).

But he was still a vampire, a monster no less. I had to keep in mind of that.

"Hmmm", was all I said, as I stepped into the room that he'd led me too. "Well, if that's all….I bid you goodnight."

He gave me a nod, and reached out to grab my hand, planting a soft kiss on the back of it.

"Goodnight, Meredith."

With that, he shut the door.

Damon's POV

I made my way towards Katherine's office, after I had senses that the witch had finally fallen asleep.

I was going to let Katherine know that I wanted her to be sure that Klaus stayed away from MY witch. I don't trust him anymore, after that move he tried to pull tonight.

And it was all because he was bitter about the fact that the royals had chosen me, my brother, and Sage for this honor, and not him.

When I approached it, I yanked the door open, smirking when I saw her jump up slightly at her desk, showing that I had startled her.

She glared angrily when she saw it was me. "What do you want Damon?"

My smirk instantly disappeared, and I glared at her, showing her I was serious.

"I need you to make sure Klaus stays away from my witch. I don't want him anywhere near her."

Whether I ended up liking her or not, the witch was mine, and I didn't need Klaus eyeing my property.

"And what am I supposed to do about it?"

"Figure it out", I snapped. "It IS your job, as the supervisor of this whole thing."

"What do you think he's going to do? He surely wouldn't be dumb enough to try to pull anything serious, and upset the royals….."

"I don't care. I just want you to take care of it. End of."

I shut the door and turned away before she could say anything else.

**Review for a sneak peek!**

**And the whole, "mission and procedure" thing about the witches will be explained later on in the story, and everyone will know why the vampires want the marriages.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**A/N: Wow you guys are freaking amazing! Over two hundred reviews and only five chapters? That's awesome!**

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**Alexis: Thanks for reviewing! And I am trying. My updates on all of my stories will be more frequent on Friday :) And lol glad you like protective Damon.**

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**55556: Thank you! And Damon still has a long way to go before he starts growing soft don't worry. :) And I'm not going to give anything away, but Damon does seriously mess up at some point in this story in regards to Bonnie. But Bamon will prevail in the end :)**

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Bonnie's POV

The next morning, I woke up in probably in the most physical comfort I've ever been in.

It was too bad my mind, deep inside, was still screaming.

I sat up in the bed quickly, and looked around at my surroundings.

I was still in the room Damon had left me in, alone. Meaning nothing bad happened in my sleep.

I let out a sigh of relief, just as I heard a knock at the door.

Relief time over…..

"Hello?" I called out, as politely as I could. I had to admit; I was a bit surprised that whoever was on the other side of the door actually had the courteously to knock at all.

"It's me", a snappy, familiar voice replied. "Are you presentable?"

It was Katherine.

"Umm….yes, come in", I stammered, immediately going into my cautious mode.

There was a click, the sound of her unlocking the door, and then she came in, her beautiful but deadly looking form the same as ever.

Before I could say anything, she three a folded-up dress in my direction, landing on the foot of the bed.

"Get dressed. You have a lot to do today."

I nodded, but just as I made a grab for the dress, she took a step closer to me.

"Do you remember that blonde gentleman that you and Master Damon ran into last night at the dinner?"

"Klaus?" I asked, holding back a shiver at the memory.

Katherine nodded. "Yes. I'm going to advise you to stay away from him."

I narrowed my eyes. Was….was she saying this because she actually cared about what happened to me? Because Klaus was dangerous?

"Why?"

She frowned. "Because that's what Damon wants. And since you are in no power to disobey any of us, I suggest you do it."

I nodded. "O…kay."

To my relief, she left after that, leaving me to be able to get dressed.

Elena's POV

I placed my hand on the doorknob, twisting it.

It was locked. I had already known that the moment I woke up, but for some reason, I was influenced to try anyway.

Now I was going to have to wait for Stefan to come and let me out…..

But as soon as the thought crossed my mind, I realized how pathetic it sounded.

Without thinking, I stared hard at the door, and then, after a moment, the door opened, unlocking.

I knew deep down that I shouldn't risk getting caught using my powers, that I should be more careful, but the stubborn part of me wouldn't listen.

I stepped out of the room, slowly and quietly making my way down the long hallway, until I heard the sound of voices coming from further down the hall.

I paused in my tracks, leaning against the wall to my right to make myself more hidden from view.

"Do you have control over that witch of yours yet?"

The voice was cold and calculating, and though he hadn't spoken much last night at the dinner, I knew it was the vampire that was introduced as "The King".

"I know she's a bit more…..outspoken then the others, but I can assure you she isn't a major threat."

Stefan. His voice sounded pleading, as if he was desperate to convince the king that what he was saying as true.

The king replied, and I could practically feel the sinister smirk on his face as he answered.

"I'm not concerned of the matter of whether or not she's dangerous. Anything she can throw at us we can handle."

I clenched my fists. Oh really…..

Stefan spoke again, this time, sounding slightly confused.

"Then what do you mean sir?"

"I meant that you need to have her nice and cooperative if this is ever going to work. After all, it would be better if our little hybrids were made from love right?"

Hybrid?

Stefan didn't say anything in response, and I almost wished I could have seen his expression, to give me a clue about what he might be thinking.

I could hear footsteps, telling me that one of them was leaving.

"Don't make me regret doing this. This was all Drina's idea in the first place, and it's all on your, and Damon's heads if it fails."

His footsteps got fainter and soon, I heard the sound of the main door open and close again.

Quietly, but at a fast pace, I made my way back to the bedroom, not wanting Stefan to know that I had heard the conversation.

I could not believe this…..the reason we were here was for…..breeding! They want us to have some kind of half vampire half witch monster babies.

It made it even clearer that all three of us had to find some way out of this. There was no way I could possibly let it happen.

I managed to get inside the room, but just as I was about to slowly close the door, a hand reached out to open it further, and I looked up, into Stefan's green eyes.

His eyes were narrowed in suspicion. "How did the door open?"

I glared at him, crossing my arms. "It's not my fault you forgot to lock it last night."

It was the best excuse I could come up with at the moment.

He sighed, and didn't look like he believed me one bit. "You used magic to unlock it, didn't you?"

I didn't answer him, and he sighed. "Doing magic here is forbidden. You could get in trouble for it."

"You seem to think I care."

I wasn't going to let him see my fear. That was one of the things monsters like him fed off of: fear.

For the first time today, he glared at me, and I could tell I was slowly weakening his patience, like I had last night when he shut the door in my face.

"Listen, Elena. I don't want to be your enemy. But not all of the vampires here are like me. You could get seriously hurt if someone else in the castle discovers you're breaking the rules."

"I can take care of myself", I said, looking into his eyes. "And for the record, you were my enemy the moment me and my friends were brought here."

_And the moment you all decided that it would be okay to force us into having half-monster babies…_

I wordlessly brushed past him, and turned back when he still hadn't moved.

"Well, are you coming?"

Not saying a word, nodded, and walked along my side.

I needed to somehow tell Bonnie and Meredith what I had heard. And soon.

Meredith's POV

"Could you please pass over the pepper?"

I was in the dining room with Sage, alone, after being served a plate topped with a delicious looking omelet.

Since I was young, I had always been fond of spicy foods, and could never really eat much without a dash of pepper on it.

Sage smirked at me, not doing anything.

I raised my eyebrows. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes, _ma bonne dame_. I heard you fine."

I waited for another moment, and frowned slightly. I was starting to get a bit annoyed.

"Could you please pass it to me?"

When he still didn't do anything, I sighed, and quickly looked at the small container of pepper sitting on his side of the table.

After a few moments of concentration, it slowly began to levitate towards me, until I had it safely in my grasp, putting a small amount of it on my omelet.

Sage clapped. "There's what I was looking for."

He was TRYING to make me use magic to get the pepper myself.

I looked up at him with mild curiosity. "You seem interested in the magic."

He shrugged, and gave a small smile. "Maybe I am. This place is so _inintéressant _at times that anything new excites me."

I could tell from the way he looks at me when I perform magic that it was more than just a matter of me entertaining him.

He seemed like he was genuinely interested in magic…..almost _fascinated_. But I had absolutely no clue as to why.

He was interesting, I would give him that.

I ate in silence after that, and quickly grew full after eating only half of the omelet.

I eyed him as I pushed my plate away. "Is there somewhere I should put this?"

He shook his head. "Someone will pick it up for you. I'm rather…..important around here."

I wanted to ask him what he meant by "important" but figured he wouldn't answer, being that he hadn't answered truthfully about why he was interested in my magic.

I suppose I would find out about everything all in due time….

"Would it be possible for me to go back to the….room and freshen up?"

It sounded slightly dumb to refer to the place that was supposed to be my new home as a "room" but I didn't know what else to call it at the moment.

Sage smiled, making no move to correct me with the right term for the place we lived. "Of course."

We both stood up, and after he laced my arm through his, we made our way out of the dining room.

Bonnie's POV

It was kind of awkward after Katherine left.

After I had gotten my dress on, and eaten, it was just me and Damon left alone in the huge quarters.

And to be honest, I was still a little afraid of him. He may have defended me against Klaus last night, but he had only done it, it seemed, out of possessiveness.

And he could do whatever he wanted to me, and no one would be around to see or hear it.

Now we were both just sitting around the table in the large kitchen of the quarters, he silently looking through a small stack of papers he had in front of him, and me eating a small stack of three pancakes topped with maple syrup.

I didn't even know where the pancakes had come from. But they were delicious.

It was a bit disorienting to sit here and eat such an ordinary breakfast in such a medieval looking place.

Without thinking, I finally said something.

"You're kind of quiet for a powerful vampire."

It was an innocent enough comment, but it got his attention. He seemed surprised, as if he hadn't expected me to talk at all.

"What do you mean?"

His tone, luckily, didn't sound hostile or offended. Just….flat, toneless.

I shrugged, and took one more bite out of a pancake before answering.

"I don't know. I've…..I've just heard a lot about you from back home. I didn't expect you to be so quiet."

He looked at me in what looked like curiosity.

"You've heard about me?"

_Not for good things….._

"Yes. They talk about you a lot."

Luckily, he dropped the subject after that. I didn't really want to talk to him about how my family hates him.

I was a little less cautious around him now. I still didn't trust him, but what happened last night showed me that I was at least a little valuable to him. At least for now. So he wouldn't…..be doing any really bad to me anytime soon.

"Why don't you like Klaus?" I asked randomly, remembering the hostile way the two vampires had acted towards each other at the dinner.

Damon snorted. "Because he's an idiot."

Not exactly the answer I was looking for…..

"But…..is there a reason that you guys hate each other so much?"

He was silent for a moment, his eyes assessing me, as if trying to figure out why I was so interested in his feud with a fellow vampire.

His eventual answer surprised me. "I'll tell you what, little witch. I'll answer your questions, if you answer some of mine, and _truthfully_. Do we have a deal?"

The idea of answering whatever possible questions he could come up with scared me, but for some reason, I felt like it was worth it, to be able to get at least some information about the creature that…..that I was going to have to marry.

"Deal", I finally said. "When do we…..."

"Tonight. I have important matters I must attend to today, and will be busy."

"Oh, okay."

He looked at me with his dark eyes for once again, before sliding a piece of paper and pen towards me.

"What's this for?"

"I figured you might want to write a letter back to your family."

I looked at him in surprise. "I can do that?"

He nodded. "It's required that we allow you to at least have some kind of interaction with your family and friends back home."

I looked down at the paper, already silently planning out what I wanted to write.

And when I looked back up, Damon was gone.

Damon's POV

After locking the door, I made my way towards Stefan's quarters.

I figured it would be best to make sure both he and Sage knew about Klaus's interest in the witches, in case he decided to try and go after one of theirs.

After all, we needed all three witches for the plan to succeed…..

I didn't even bother knocking on his door, and just opened the door and barged in.

He approached me immediately, almost as soon as I stepped through the door. Hmmm, he must have sensed that I was coming.

He glared, obviously not happy that I had barged into his quarters.

"Damon, what do you…."

"I'd advise you to keep a close eye on your witch. Klaus is on the move."

He now looked a bit alarmed. "What do you mean?"

I rolled my eyes. Was the boy really this dense….

"I mean exactly that. He is on the move. We all knew from the beginning that he was angry over the fact that the royals had chosen us for this project, and not him. And I don't trust him…..at all."

I turned my back on him after that, not sure if I could take more of his dense naivety.

"And pass that information along to Sage", I said, before leaving the quarters completely.

**A/N: So sorry for the delay guys! But good news….it is summer, and I am back in my writing groove! The updates will now come quicker. :)**

**And I know I said in the sneak peek that the Queen would be featured in this chapter, but to tell you the truth, I couldn't find room for her….but she WILL be in the next one. :)**

**Review for a sneak peek!**

**Next story update: Beauty and the Vampire**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**A/N: Like I said on my update for "Beauty and the Vampire", I apologize for the delays. My computer had a virus that made me unable to use word for a while, but it is fixed now. :)**

**Once again, you guys are all amazing for the reviews! Thanks a lot to the anonymous reviewers who review even though I can't give you sneak peeks. I appreciate it.**

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Bonnie's POV

I sighed as put the pen down.

I had finally finished the letter I had written for everyone back home. I had tried to mention everyone that I wanted to hear from me in it, including my parents, my grandmother Rose, and….Matt.

Matt….the boy I had once thought I would someday marry. Thoughts of him had once been occupied with hope, and excitement for the future.

Now all I have to look forward to in life was being the wife and a servant to a vampire for the rest of my life.

And not just any vampire, Damon Salvatore, one of the most hated vampires by my people.

At the thought of Damon, I looked up at the small clock that was posted on the wall to my left, and saw that it had been nearly an hour since he had left.

Had I really taken that long to write the letter?

I shook my head in disbelief, and leaned back in my chair, not knowing what to do next.

Damon had said that he would be gone for the day, and there was no doubt in my mind that he locked the door, and trapped me in here.

And if I did any sort of magic, he could have some sort of tracer or alarm to tell him when magic was being used, and I didn't want to risk getting caught.

I looked around at the large room for a moment, and shrugged to myself.

Well, this WAS my new home, and if Damon left me here alone, it must be alright for me to explore it a little.

I got up from my chair, and folded my letter for home in half, placing it underneath the cushion of my chair, in hope of hiding it while I waited for Damon to come back and tell me how to send it.

I slowly walked up the staircase, and walked onto the second level of the quarters, making my way inside one of the many room of it.

The room I walked into surprisingly small, in contrast to all of the huge rooms I have seen in the castle so far.

It was obvious that it was meant to be any sort of bedroom, since there was no bed, or couch to speak of.

But there WERE shelves. Multiple shelves filled with all sorts of trinkets.

Curious, I stepped closer to one of the shelves, peering at all of the items placed on it.

Most of them looked like trophies or certificates, which Damon had most likely one in his effort in the war between the witches and the vampires.

But there was one thing that caught my eye: on the bottom row of one of the shelves, was beautiful painting.

I edged closer to get a better look at it.

The background of the painting was a mixture of a light red and blue, indicating that the setting took place either when the sun was just coming up, or just coming down.

In the middle, there was a Victorian house, the type you'd think you'd see in 15th century Europe.

But what surprised me most about the painting were the people standing in front of the house.

Two small boys were playing, pushing at each other with smiles on their faces. The boy who looked like he was losing the "fight" had eyes that were a brilliant green color that almost gave of the appearance of glowing, with locks of dark hair.

The other one, unlike his brother, had dark eyes.

But both boys had dark hair, olive skin tone, and cheekbones that looked like….

I held back a gasp as I realized who the boys looked like to me: Damon and Stefan.

But the weirdest part was that in the painting, watching the boys play from the other side of the house was a woman with long, flowing red hair, and an extremely pale complexion.

The beautiful woman looked exactly like Drina, the current queen of the vampires.

"Enjoying yourself?"

I spun around quickly, and saw Damon, leaning lazily against the door frame of the room, his expression calculating, as if wondering why I was taking an interest in the painting.

I nervously stepped away from it.

"I was bored, and since I'm going to be living here anyway, I….I thought it would be okay for me to take a look around."

Damon just looked at me for another sort moment, before finally speaking again.

"Do you have your letter?"

He seemed to want to avoid the subject of the painting, even disregarding the fact that I was looking at it.

But I decided to let it go….for now.

I nodded. "Yes….do you want me to go get it?"

He nodded. "That would be helpful if you want it to be delivered", he murmured sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

Without saying anything, I walked out of the room, with Damon following closely behind.

I hesitantly walked towards the place where I had hidden the letter, hoping that Damon wouldn't suspect that I was hiding something from him by hiding the letter.

I actually wasn't trying to hide anything from him, nothing important anyway. I just liked the idea of the letter remaining privet, one thing that the vampires couldn't invade at this time.

Reluctantly, I pulled the letter out from underneath the cushion I had hidden it under, and handed it out for Damon to take.

Like I feared, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

He took the letter in his hand, still looking at me questionably. "Is there a reason you chose to hide it?"

I shook my head quickly. "It's just a letter for my family, and I…..wait, what are you doing?"

Damon was now opening the folded up letter, peering at it, and obviously getting ready to read it.

I reached for it, but Damon merely lifted it up higher, and because of my short height, I couldn't reach it.

"Damon, please don't!"

He ignored me, and continued to stare at the letter, having obviously begun to read it.

I felt tears of anger and frustration slowly beginning to fall from my eyes.

"Damon please! It's….it's privet and….can you please just give it back to me?"

Again, he ignored me. His eyes never moved from the letter as he continued to read it.

A small amount of tears began to fall, as he continued to read the heartfelt letter that was supposed to be for my family and friends from back home only.

After a moment, he looked away from the letter, and looked at me in an almost….stern way.

It was obvious that he either didn't noticed that I had been crying, or he simply didn't care. More likely the latter…

"You mention a name in that letter….Mutt?"

"It's…..it's Matt", I sniffed; still beyond frustrated that he had read my letter. "He was a friend of mine from back home."

Damon narrowed his eyes.

"A _friend_? And that is why you choose to mention his pacifically in your letter, and not one of your other friends? What makes this Mutt boy so special?"

I knew exactly what he was getting at.

"I….me, Elena, and Meredith were the daughters of the royals. We didn't get the chance to meet many people, and we didn't have many friends outside each other. Matt was one of our closest ones."

I had always wanted more than friendship with Matt, but there was no way I was ever going to tell Damon that.

Damon, to my relief, looked convinced, but there was still an aura of possessiveness and hostility in his eyes.

"So you have nothing but friendly feelings towards him?"

I nodded. "Yes and…."

"Because you do realize that it can never happen right? You are _mine_. And _this is _now your permanent home."

I felt the tears coming again, out of frustration and humiliation. "Yes, I….I realize that."

"Good", Damon murmured, before folding up the letter, tucking it into his jacket pocket.

Then, as if the previous conversation had never happened, he looked at me thoughtfully.

"I'll have the letter delivered on my way to the meeting. I'll be gone for an hour or so. Since it is near sunset, the night watchers are on duty, and you are welcome to explore the castle if you like."

He then walked away from me, and then towards the door, and then paused.

"But if you attempt to go outside the boundaries and escape, you will be punished. Understood?"

Without looking at him, I nodded.

There was a brief pause, and I continued to keep my gaze off of him, keeping my eyes glued to the floor.

Eventually, I heard a sigh, and the sound of the door opening and closing, leaving me in the huge quarters alone.

After he was gone, I slumped back in one of the chairs in the huge dining room.

I had, once again, greatly misunderstood Damon Salvatore.

I should have listened to my first instincts. How could I have ever thought there was some good in him? Sure, he may have saved me from getting attacked by Klaus, but I should have remembered what he had said afterwards.

_"Touch her again, and you'll regret it. She's MY witch"_

_"I hadn't realized you'd grown a soft side, Salvatore."_

_"I haven't. I just don't want other vampires nibbling on what's mine."_

I should have known right then and there that what Damon said was true.

Damon didn't really care about my feelings, or me as a person, and he had proved it just now, when he had read my personal letter, even though I had cried and begged him not to.

He was a heartless vampire, and didn't truly care about anyone but himself.

I was nothing but property to him in his mind. And the sooner I fully realized that, the better.

I looked around at the empty room, and remembered Damon's last words.

I haven't seen much of the castle, other then what Katherine led us through. Maybe it would be kind of neat to take a look around….

I suddenly remembered the back entrance of the quarters that led to the castle garden. I figured that fresh air was exactly what I needed, and headed in the direction of the back entrance.

Once I reached it, I slowly opened the door, and stepped outside, immediately enjoying the rush of cool air on my face.

I had been missing this, the feeling of being outside.

I looked around at the rows and rows of flowers of the garden, and inhaled the wonderful fragrance coming from them.

This was exactly what I needed; a nice, area outside to clear my head a little.

I quickly found a small tree to sit against, and sat down without really looking around to see where exactly I was, and closed my eyes.

It was almost peaceful, for a moment anyway.

"What brings you out here young one?"

I immediately opened my eyes, and turned to face the direction that the voice had come from.

Sitting beside me, was none other than Drina. The queen of the vampires, and the woman I swore I saw in the painting in Damon's quarters.

I sat up quickly, startled.

"I'm sorry….your majesty. Is this your spot?"

I was actually surprised to see her out here. I thought she'd be more the type to want stay up in the castle, not down here in the garden, by herself.

To my surprise, she smiled in what looked like a reassuring way.

"It's fine….why don't you sit with me a while?"

I nodded and sat back down, mostly because I was a bit afraid of saying no. Sure, she seemed nice, but she was still a vampire and their queen no less.

I sat down so that my back was once again against the tree, and a couple of inches away from Drina, trying to hide my discomfort.

"What is your name child?"

"Bonnie", I answered. "Bonnie McCullough."

She smiled. "That's a pretty name…doesn't 'Bonnie' mean 'pretty' in Scottish?"

With the sweet, gentle way she was talking to me, you would think that she was talking to a little kid, rather than a seventeen….almost eighteen year old.

And though it was a little annoying, it was much better then how other vampires have addressed me since I got here.

I nodded. "Yes….it does."

We were both quiet again for a moment, and just when I was about to ask her for her permission to go back inside the castle, she asked me something that caught me off guard.

"So how are you and Damon doing?"

I froze. Should I tell her the truth, or come up with a good lie?

I figured that if I did lie to her, Damon could just tell her how things were really going between us, since he most likely had some ties with her, and I didn't want to get into any trouble.

I sighed. "Not…..not really well."

Her eyebrows rose. "Why not?"

Where do I start? I figured I should probably leave out the part about my family hating him because he's killed so many of our people.

I sighed. "He….I don't think he likes me very much."

_And I don't like him…_

Drina seemed a bit surprised at this statement. "Well, I'm sure he does dear….he did hand pick you didn't he?"

_Yes, but I have absolutely no idea why…._

"Yeah but he doesn't act like it…."

Drina sighed, and looked down at the ground as she talked.

"I know that Damon can be a bit….cold at times, but deep down, he doesn't mean you any harm. He's….he is lonely, but he tries so hard to hide it."

_Hmmm! Damon lonely….yeah right. If it wasn't for the fact that for some reason, the vampires wanted witch/vampire marriages, there's no way he would ever even consider the idea of marriage. I'm sure deep down he wishes that he had his quarters to himself again._

"I've known Damon for….a very long time now", Drina continued, not seeming to care that I was remaining silent, "He's never been an open person, and he has a hard time letting people in after all that's happened."

I suddenly remembered the painting I saw in Damon's quarters. I swore that the people in the painting had been Damon and Stefan as little kids, and Drina, the same age was she was now.

So I was sure that she must be telling the truth about "knowing Damon for a long time".

And even though I was still having a hard time believing that Damon was "lonely", I couldn't help but feel a little interested in what Drina might know about my future "husband".

"How long have you known Damon?" I asked cautiously, hoping she didn't think that I was being nosy.

She smiled. "For a very, very, _very_ long time. I actually knew both Stefan and Damon from when they were humans."

_That would explain why Damon and Stefan are kids in the painting…._

I hesitated for a moment before I asked my next question.

"Were….were they different?"

It was silent for a moment, and I was a little afraid that I had crossed a line.

But when she finally did speak, it wasn't answer I was hoping for, but she didn't sound angry.

"I feel that is a question you should ask Damon or Stefan."

I let out a breath I hadn't known I was holding.

"Yeah, I guess", I muttered softly, no longer having anything else to say.

I was surprised that she looked a bit disappointed, as if she didn't like that she had to deny me an answer to my question.

_Don't be silly_, I thought to myself. _Why should she care about answering YOUR questions? She's the queen of the vampires for God's sake!_

I was so lost in my thoughts, that at first, I didn't notice what was going on practically right in front of me.

But when I finally did, I held back a gasp, and quickly stood up, not even caring that, at the moment, that Drina could possibly think it was rude of me.

In front of us, one of the flowers that was about a foot away from us, and picked it's self off the ground, and was now hovering about a foot above it.

Yes, I have seen magic way more impressive then this before, but at the moment, I was the only witch out here, and I wasn't doing it.

I turned back towards Drina, hoping she didn't think I was the one doing it and breaking the rules, and gasped.

Drina's entire concentration was on the flower, and it was obvious that she was behind the floating flower.

Like I expected, after she took her eyes off the flower, it fell back down to the ground.

"You….you can do magic?" I managed, caught completely off guard.

She smiled and nodded, looking down at the ground.

"I'm….part witch. I was once one before I became a vampire. I wanted to get the chance to get to know all three of you, since you came from my people."

She….she was once one of us?

I knew that I shouldn't completely believe her quite yet. She may seem nice, but she was still a vampire, cunning and tricky.

But I couldn't deny that I was intrigued that she could do magic, and that she might have been a witch before she was turned into a vampire.

And I wanted to know more….

As if reading my thoughts (which she might have had) Drina continued.

"I've always wanted to meet with young witches….and to show them what I know. Do you think you could convince your friends to accompany you for….brief magic lessons?"

Her voice was light and upbeat, as if she was asking me to come over for cookies.

At her question, I could already picture the expressions on my friends' faces if I asked them what Drina requested.

Meredith's would be suspicious and mistrustful of whether we should go or not, and Elena would look at me with disbelief, and ask me if I lost my mind.

Still….I was going to ask anyway. She was the queen; it wasn't like I could disobey her anyway….

I nodded. "Yes I….I can ask them."

She smiled warmly. "I will ask Damon to inform me on your decision later. Good evening."

With that, she elegantly got up from her spot on the ground, and silently headed down a path in the garden, that most likely led to another entrance to the inside of the castle.

As I watched her, one thought ran through my mind. _I don't think we are going to have much of a choice…._

* * *

After I had sat by my spot next to the tree for a couple more moments, inhaling the fresh air, and the scent of flowers, I slowly got up and headed back to back entrance to Damon's quarters.

As I walked, I thought of something: If Damon was at the meeting, and then Stefan and Sage probably were too.

And maybe Stefan and Sage had given Elena and Meredith the same privilege Damon gave me, and they were also free to roam the castle until the meeting was over.

I could tell them that Drina wanted us to start meeting with her.

I wasn't excited to tell my friends this news, but I figured it was better to get it over with, to not take too long and possibly make Drina mad.

I shivered at the thought of making the queen of the vampires mad, and continued my way into the quarters, trying to see if I could remember where Sage and Stefan's quarters were to meet up with Meredith and Elena.

As I walked out of Damon's quarters, and into one of the main hallways of the castle, I began to jog through my memory faster.

I was so lost in my thoughts, that I hadn't realized I was walking behind someone before I accidentally bumped into their back.

But before I could stammer out an apology, the person wrapped their arms around me.

I looked up, finally seeing who it was. "Elena!"

She released me from the hug, and gave me a small smile. "Bonnie, it's so….good to see you again."

Her voice sounded almost relieved, and I felt the same.

Though it had only been a short time since we last saw it each other, it was the first time since we were introduced to our "fiancés" that we would be able to really talk to each other. It was a small light in this nightmare.

We began to walk side by side, and Elena spot quietly too me.

"So, did your leech give you permission to walk around the castle too?"

I nodded. "But only until the meeting is over."

When the meeting was over, I would have to go back to Damon. And after what happened with the letter today, I was not looking forward to it, even more than usual.

But I pushed the thoughts out of my head. Right now, I should focus on the fact that I will finally be able to talk to my friends.

But it was then that I noticed that we were still walking, and I had no clue where we were going.

"Um Elena….where are we going?"

"To Sage's quarters to visit Meredith, I remember where it was. I….need to tell you guys something."

I held back a groan at the tone of her voice. From the sounds of it, whatever she had to tell us, it was bad.

"Yeah, I need to tell you something too", I said, suddenly remembering Drina's request.

We were silent for the rest of the walk, afraid that we would be overheard by someone, and we finally came to a door, that according to Elena was the entrance to Sage's quarters.

I hesitantly knocked on the door, and after only waiting for practically five seconds, the door swung open, and Meredith pulled us inside, as if she had been expecting, and waiting for us to come.

Once we were all three inside, Meredith firmly closed the door, locking it.

Both Elena and I gave her questioning looks.

"Sage gave me my own key to the quarters", she answered flatly.

Sage had given Meredith her own key?

Elena snorted. "I thought none of the leeches trusted us."

"Normally, they don't. But….there's some different about Sage", Meredith answered, calmly and flatly.

I could tell that Elena wanted to drill her more on it, but Meredith interrupted her, looking at both of us.

"How have you two been doing?"

I hesitated, thinking about whether I should tell them about the letter incident with Damon or not…

In the end, I brushed it off, figuring that it would only cause more problems. Elena would get angry, and possibly do something reckless, and Meredith….while she was normally cool and collected, and not impulsive and hot-tempered like Elena, she was fiercely protective of both me and Elena, and I didn't think it would go down well for her either.

"I've been….fine, but I need to tell you guys something."

From the corner of my eye, I saw Elena nod. "I need to say something too."

I looked towards her. "You can go first."

I figured that whatever Elena had to say couldn't be much worse then what I had to tell them.

Boy was I wrong….

Elena sighed, and began to speak in a serious, quivering voice, as if she was trying to control her temper.

"I….overheard Stefan saying something to the king this morning, and I didn't like it."

"What?" I asked a bit impatiently, when she paused.

She looked down at the ground. "You're not going to like it."

"Just get on with it Elena", Meredith said. But her tone hadn't been snappy, maybe just a bit anxious to hear the news.

Elena looked back up at us as she answered. "They were discussing….the plans they have for us after the marriages. They….they want us to produce some kind of half leech, and half witch babies!"

At her words, I froze, thoughts of terror running through my mind. She couldn't possibly mean….

"Wh…what does that mean?" I asked, before I could stop myself.

Elena looked at me, a bit impatient with my responses. "They want us to become pregnant Bonnie, like….like some kind of breeding farm!"

We would have to….have their children?

I shivered, desperately not wanting to picture the idea. It was horrifying to imagine.

As if reading my mind, Elena broke the silence.

"I say we find some way to escape….and fast. There's….there's no way we can actually let that happen right?"

"No", Meredith said calmly but firmly, and both Elena and I turned towards her.

"You….you mean 'no, we can't let that happen', right Mere?"

Meredith shook her head. "No, I meant 'no, we can't try to escape'."

Elena looked at her in disbelief. "But Merry…."

Meredith shook her head, cutting her off. "Listen to me, both of you. We'll think of something, but we HAVE to find some way other than running away. That would only put us in danger, since they would most likely come looking for us, and possibly our people. The whole reason we're here was for a surrender treaty, remember?"

For s second, Elena looked like she wanted to argue, but stopped, looking down at the ground, realizing that Meredith was right.

"But….but we are going to do SOMETHING right?" I asked, a little hysterically.

Meredith nodded. "Yes, I'll….we'll come up with something. But whatever we do, we can't run away."

Her next statement was, once again, addressed to both of us, but I thought I saw her eyes avert slightly over to Elena.

"And we can't let ANYONE find out that we know this information. For the time being, we are going to act like we know nothing, right Elena?"

Elena nodded, but didn't look at all happy about it.

There was another silence as all three of us took in this new horrifying piece of news, until I suddenly remembered that I still needed to tell them about what Drina said in the garden.

_And here I thought that what I had to say was horrible. It's going to seem like nothing compared to what Elena just told us._

"Um guys? There's something else you should know."

They stood there in silence as I explained to them what had happened earlier today, skipping the part with Damon and the letter, and just going write to the meeting with Drina in the garden.

"She wants us to start….meeting with her to discuss magic or something", I finished.

Meredith narrowed her eyes. "It is interesting that she was once a full witch. And she can still perform magic?"

I nodded. "She levitated a flower right in front of me."

"Whether she used to be a witch or not, she's still a vampire now, all the same", Elena grumbled, obviously not pleased with the fact that we would have to start meeting with the vampire queen.

Meredith rolled her eyes, but otherwise ignored our bitter friend.

I looked towards Elena. "I still think we should do it. We…we don't want to upset the queen."

"I agree", Meredith said. "We don't want to make the situation worse than it already is."

I opened my mouth to say something else, but the door to the quarters suddenly flew open, and we all turned abruptly to see Sage walking in.

Shutting the door behind him, he walked further in, and gave Elena and me a small smile as he saw us.

"The meeting is over _Les filles. _I assume that Damon and Stefan will probably want you back to your own quarters soon."

I nodded, and grabbed onto Elena's arm, ready to pull her out the door if I had too.

"We'll leave. Thanks for letting us know", I said as politely as I could, as I walked towards the door, Elena in tow.

Meredith gave us one last warning look before we walked out the door, shutting is behind us.

Once we were a safe way away from the door, I stopped.

"Elena, please just do what Meredith said and pretend like you don't know about….their plan. I don't want you to get hurt", I pleaded, knowing how mouthy Elena could be.

Elena smiled. "I….I promise I won't do anything to make it seem like I know. But don't expect me to be on my best behavior."

She ended the sentence with a mischievous smirk, and I couldn't help but let out a small laugh, for the first time in days.

We hugged before we finally had to part ways.

I was very nervous, thinking about having to stay with Damon for a whole night after what happened.

I sucked in a deep breath as I made my way to the door, and slowly opened it, stepping inside.

To my relief, he wasn't standing in front of it waiting for me. Maybe he had already gone to his room….

But that thought was shattered when I stepped into the main part of the quarters, and found him sitting in one of the armchairs.

I didn't say anything, my mind racing to try to think of what I should do next.

Realizing that I most likely would have to talk to him eventually anyway, I reluctantly turned towards him.

"Can I…go upstairs to my room and go to bed?"

"It was only a letter", he murmured, not looking at me, and brushing off my question.

"I'm….I'm sorry, but I don't know what you mean…."

"The letter, earlier today", he cut off. "There was no need to cry about it."

My cheeks flamed red.

Though I was a bit embarrassed that he brought up the fact that I had cried, I couldn't help but be surprised that he was bringing up the letter incident at all, like he had been thinking about it when we were apart….

"I'm sorry…."

He waved me off. "No, don't apologize. I just wonder why you feel so strongly about it."

I hoped that he wasn't expecting me to tell him why I had cried. I knew the reason, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell him.

It was silent for a moment, before he said something else. "The letter was mailed. I had it delivered on my way to the meeting this evening."

I forced myself to give him a small smile. "Thank you. Now could I please go on up to my room?"

To my shock, he shook his head. "Not so fast little witch, we have an agreement, remember?"

At first, I didn't have a clue what he was talking about, when it suddenly hit me: the question thing. We were supposed to answer and ask questions about each other after he got back from the meeting….

Only now, I didn't want to do it. And it had been me who had agreed to it, and wanted to do it in the first place.

He gestured at me to sit down in the chair beside me, and I had no choice but do as he said.

I slowly sat down, dreading what could possibly be coming next….

Damon gave a small smirk. "Shall I start, or you?"

**A/N: So….I feel like a jerk giving you guys hope for quicker updates, and have them not happen. :( Forgive me. So I'll just say: I'll update as soon as I possibly can.**

**Sorry for the lack of Stefan and Sage in this chapter. They will both have big parts in the next one.**

**And to answer some questions: Yes, Sage does have a secret, and there IS a reason he seems more interested in Meredith's magic then some of the other vampires, and that will be revealed later.**

**As always, review for a sneak peek for the next chapter. :)**

**PS: I changed the title for this story to "Arranging Love". Thank you to Lilly CullenSalvatore for coming up with that title. It's much better then my old one. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm finally back baby! Seriously? Almost up to 300 reviews on only the 7****th**** chapter. You guys rock! The last chapter was the most reviews I've EVER gotten on one chapter of a story.**

**Anonymous responses:**

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**KatieBella: Glad you liked it. I'm going to be trying to develop the Bamon relationship slow and steady in this story. Thank you!**

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**Alexis: And your reviews always put a smile on my face! Thank you so much. I was smiling the whole time reading your review. And LOL I'm REALLY sorry about the slowness of updates. I'll explain at the end of the chapter.**

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**Veronica: Gracias, muchísimas gracias! Me alegro que te guste este relato. Y sí, estoy planeando hacer el beso Bamon muy especial en esta historia. Habrá valido la pena esperar.**

**AND: I have something important to tell you guys. Just read the A/N at the end of this chapter.**

**Enjoy! :)**

Bonnie's POV

"Shall I start, or you?"

I shook my head, not really sure how to respond.

"I….I'm fine either way."

Damon was silent for a moment, but I thought he looked a bit annoyed at my lack of an answer; as if he was irritated that my enthusiasm for this game was gone, when I had seemed anxious to do it only earlier today.

When he did finally say something, his voice was flat.

"Fine, I'll start."

I held back a sigh, a little worried about what he would ask me. But he couldn't….ask anything THAT important right? We hardly knew each other…

"Do you have any siblings from where you came from?"

The question surprised me. It was so simple, and unimportant. Not at all the type of question I expected him to ask.

But I wasn't going to complain if this game was going to be that easy….

I shook my head. "No….I don't. But I've always considered Elena and Meredith as….sort of sisters. We've grown up together."

It was true. From practically the day all three of us had been born, the three families had always made sure the three of us, Elena, Meredith, and I, were around each other. There were many pictures of us sitting next to each other in cribs as babies, and every holiday or special occasion was spent with all three families.

We never asked why, but we always knew it was because our parents' wanted us to form a bond. A bond that would be powerful when we all three ruled the witch clan together.

But all those efforts amount to much. It was obvious now that it was never our fate to rule the witch clan.

All we had now was each other.

Realizing it was my turn now, I figure it wouldn't hurt to ask him what I wanted to know.

"Um Damon, why….why did you want to know that?"

His expression showed a nonchalant look, as if there was no weirdness to him asking the question.

"Is it a crime to want to get to know my future bride a bit more?"

He….he really only wanted to get to know me?

I was having a difficult time letting the thought register in my mind.

I was about to ask another question, hoping that he hadn't caught that I technically already used my turn.

"Do you…."

He cut me off. "Not so fast redbird. I believe it's my turn now." His tone wasn't hostile, just stern, like Mrs. Lorezzo from back home, when she was explaining the correct way of doing a spell.

Did he just call me "redbird"?

"What's your relationship with that Mutt boy?"

Not a good subject. I already knew he wouldn't like the truth after seeing his reaction when he saw that I mentioned Matt in my letter for home.

I sighed. "It's Matt…"

He waved me off impatiently. "Just answer the question."

_I've had feelings for him practically since the day we met, at the age of five. I often daydreamed about marrying him, and having him help me, Elena, and Meredith rule the clan, until I was forced to come here._

That would be the truth. But I of course, couldn't tell Damon that.

But I was a little hesitant to lie. Could…did vampires have some kind of sense where they can tell if you're lying?

"Matt…he's a very good friend. I've known him for a long time, almost as long as I've known Elena and Meredith."

_Not exactly the whole truth, but not a lie either…_

Damon's dark eyes were eyeing me thoughtfully, and I felt a twinge of nervousness.

I finally broke the awkward silence. "Is….can I take my turn now?"

He was still looking thoughtfully at me, before he slowly spoke. "Do you realize we agreed to be truthful towards each other in this game?"

He had somehow sensed I was lying….

I nodded. "Umm…."

"I could tell you weren't telling the truth, _uccello rossa. _Now, and the time I had read your letter. I'm quickly losing my patience."

His voice was still cool and precise, but I could hear a twinge of annoyance in it.

I didn't want to upset him. He may have saved me from Klaus that one time, but I had to remember that he had only done if for selfish reasons. He was still a deadly vampire, who would have no problem doing anything he wanted to me if I angered him.

"He…okay, I had some feelings for him", I admitted.

I grew even more nervous when he said nothing in response to the answer.

"But….it was only a crush! I…I can get over it."

After another brief pause, he finally said something.

"Good."

That answer was definitely better than the one he gave me last time. It wasn't filled with anger…more like annoyance.

Quickly remembering that it was my turn, I quickly thought up a question.

"Why do you, Stefan, and Sage want to marry us?" I asked, not able to stop myself.

Like usual, I had let my emotions and curiosity get the better of me, and said something I probably shouldn't have.

Meredith had told Elena and I not to give any clue that we knew about the vampire's plans for us, because it would be safer and easier for her to try and find out a way out of it if they didn't know.

It just slipped out.

But…but it couldn't be that bad right? They must know that at least one of us was bound to ask about why we were here, and I didn't make it sound like I already knew.

Damon frowned, and I wondered if he was silently trying to figure out a way to answer the question without giving too much away….

He looked like he had been about to say something when the door to the quarters flung open, and a surprisingly flustered looking Katherine stepped through.

Damon glared at her, obviously mad about the way she barged in.

"What made you believe that you could just…."

"Damon", Katherine snarled, glaring at him, not seeming to take any notice that I was even there, "Klaus is gone!"

Damon's eyes widened slightly, and I could tell he was just as frantic as Katherine was, even if he did a better job at hiding it.

His voice was low as he spoke.

"When?"

Katherine inhaled a large amount of breath. "I talked to him earlier this morning. He didn't look like he was up to anything. But now….he's just vanished."

I didn't know much about Klaus. I only knew him as the blonde vampire how had terrorized me at the dinner meeting on the first night I spend as Damon's fiancé.

But from the looks of anger and slightly frantic looks that Damon and Katherine were passing between each other, I could tell that there was definitely more to him.

Damon got up from his armchair. "Do you have any clue where he could have gone?"

Katherine shook her head. "But….I did find something. You might want to take a look."

The room was silent for a moment, and Damon's expression was unreadable.

But I was guessing that he contemplating whether or not to leave the quarters and look at what Katherine wanted him to see.

Finally, he stood up from his armchair. "Wait here", he murmured, throwing me a side glance before following Katherine towards the exit to the quarters.

When the door shut, I could hear the clicking sound of him locking the door behind him.

I was once again alone in the huge quarters, and couldn't help but feel a twinge of nervousness. I honestly wasn't sure if having Damon was here SO bad. Sure he frightened me a little, but it was better than being alone.

But…maybe I could take this chance to go back upstairs to that spare room, and look at that painting I found earlier.

Something about it interested me. I was sure that it had been Drina, with Damon and Stefan as little kids in that picture.

Of course, I knew that vampires were immortal…and that some of them could have lived for centuries.

But I thought it was interesting that Damon and Stefan…if it really WAS them in the picture, had known Drina, the queen of the vampires, when they were kids.

And from her flushed and alive looking features in the picture, Drina had been human when the picture was painted too.

Meaning they had all three known each other…as humans.

I began to climb the huge staircase to the second floor of the quarters, and found it harder than the last time.

I legs seemed to go through ten times the normal strain as I struggled to take each step, and I had to grip the railing tightly, a little afraid that my legs might give out and have me tumbling back down the stairs.

I instantly knew what the problem was, and groaned in realization.

I was experiencing an after affect of magic loss.

When witches went for too long without magic, it can sometimes end up draining some of our physical strength and energy.

Magic was not just ability, but a part of us. And when it was taken away from us, it was bound to leave affects.

I have been so scared about the vampire situation, and I had forgotten about it until now.

Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to finish climbing the stairs, though my vision was getting slightly hazy as my body reacted to the strain I was putting on it.

And before I knew it, I had blacked out.

Elena's POV

I couldn't help but feel disappointed about Bonnie and Meredith's reactions to the news I told them.

They seemed upset about it, yes, but neither of them seemed to have the will to want to take actions against it like I did.

I held back a shiver as I thought about the piece of news again.

There was NO WAY we could ever allow ourselves to be some sort of breeding stock for the vampires. It was not only a sin on our own conscience, but one against our people and history as well.

I could only hope that Meredith knew what she was doing…and that she had been right about it being better if we didn't try and run away.

The door to my bedroom suddenly opened, and in walked in Stefan, looking at me slightly cautiously.

"What?"

He sighed, as if reluctant to tell me why he was here.

"Elena, the queen wants to meet with you, Bonnie, and Meredith tonight. The officials think it would be best for the three of you to report to the…."

"I'm not going", I interjected.

He frowned. "You have too."

I stood up from where I sat in the bed, and walked over to him, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Then you're going to have to drag me."

He sighed, and I thought I could see a flash of anger in his green eyes before he looked away from my gaze.

"I've tried to make this easy for you…but it's all going to change if you don't cooperate with me a little."

His voice still sounded angry, but there was a small tone of pleading in his words as well.

He had no right to plead to me. It was his, and the rest of his kind that forced us here.

I smiled. "If I'm so much of a hassle, why not just tell the royals you can't handle me, and send me and my friends back?"

He sighed again. "I can't."

We both fell silent, and then after a few moments, he spoke again.

"We're both stuck in this situation. I don't like this anymore then you do. But you're making it way more difficult than it needs to be", he said harshly, looking at me again.

Then my anger flared.

"Well, excuse me…I'm sorry that I can't act polite towards the person who's helping to hold me hostage."

He looked like he was about to say something in responses, but I cut in, now letting the words flow freely.

"Do you have any idea what it's been like?" I yelled. "We had LIVES! We had DREAMS! We were all three going to someday rule the clan….together. And you vampires ruined everything!"

His eyes widened slightly. "Elena…."

"And now all we have to look forward to in life is being married to monsters!"

My vision was starting to get hazy, but I was too much in the zone to care.

"And….and now we don't know if we can EVER be happy again…..what….."

But I broke off, and found myself suddenly collapsing.

But before I could hit the ground, I felt a pair of strong arms catch me.

Stefan.

"Let me go", I said angrily, through gritted teeth, as I tried to stand up.

But my lack of energy refused to let me, and I remained stuck in the circle of his arms.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing", I lied. "I'm fine."

I tried to stand up again, and, like before, fell back over into his arms.

"The hell you are", he growled slightly.

I felt his hands gently cup my neck, and by now, I was too hazy and out of it to fight him.

"You're pulse is getting…fainter."

I could hear a hint of worry in his voice.

And my sense immediately went on alert when he set me down on the floor, slowly, and bit into his wrist, causing a steady flow of blood to seep out of the small wound.

"No" I whimpered weakly, instantly knowing what his intentions were. I could NOT drink the blood of a vampire. The very idea made my instinct to protect myself kick in.

He eyes were hard, and set in determination. He had his mind made up.

"You have too. We don't know what's happened to you."

I shook my head weakly. "I won't do it."

He sighed. "I wish that I didn't have to do this."

Before I could say anything else, I got lost in the gaze of his forest green eyes.

And then, my world turned to black.

Damon's POV

Katherine breathed in deeply as we both looked around at the wreckage that was Klaus's old quarters.

It looked as if he had gone on a rampage, destroying as much as he could in some sort of act of revenge before he ran off.

Furniture was torn to pieces, pictures yanked off the walls, glass, and other fragments scattered across the floor.

But that wasn't our biggest concern.

Our biggest concern was the message, painted in blood, across the far left wall.

_**IT'S NOT OVER**_

Katherine grimaced, obviously thinking the same thing as I was.

"You'd think he would have gotten past it by now."

She meant what had happened centuries ago…back when we were all newly turned vampires…

I shook my head. "I never expected him too."

We were both silent for a moment, contemplating what exactly Klaus could be plotting.

Thinking back to what had happened all those centuries ago, it finally came to mind.

And I knew instantly that my witch could very well be in danger.

"We should inform the royals."

Katherine's voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I turned towards her, offering only a brief nod.

I sent Katherine off to inform the royals of the wreckage in Klaus's quarters on her own.

King Christian and I…didn't exactly see eye-to-eye. And besides, I had a feeling I ought to check up on the little witch, with Klaus's threat hanging in the air.

I wasn't afraid of the bastard. But I doubted little Bonnie would be much of a match against him.

And I worked too hard to let this chance be ruined by Klaus.

I walked quickly through the hallways until I reached the door that led to the quarters, quickly unlocking it and wrenching it open, stepping inside.

I shut the door and looked around, seeing no sign of the small, red-headed witch that I had left here.

"Little witch?"

No answer.

I called her name loudly, and after still not hearing any noise to indicate that she heard me, I walked further then, my eyes scanning every corner.

She was nowhere on the first floor.

I had checked the kitchen, dining room, and the lounge, and there was no sight of her.

Finally, I made my way towards the stairs, and saw her.

She was sprawled on the ground, her fiery red hair in a mess, her small body half way on the stair steps, and the other half on the second floor.

She clearly had somehow fainted or passed out.

I quickly walked up the stairs, knelt down, and took her small form into my arms.

The side of her head was bleeding, indicating that she had hit it hard when she fell.

I shook her slightly. "Bonnie."

She stirred slightly, but didn't quite open her eyes. "Damon?"

Her voice came out slow and softly, and I could tell she was still out of it.

And I was slightly concerned that she might have given herself a concussion when she hit her head.

And I needed to stop the bleeding.

I bit into my wrist, trying to ignore the sweet smell of her blood…a unique smell that only came from witches; I bit into my wrist, gently prying her lips open.

She swallowed it easily…although, I had a feeling she was barely even aware of the fact that it was blood she was drinking.

After a few moments, her head wound was slowly healing, like expected.

I let out a small sigh of relief as I took my wrist away, letting it heal in seconds.

I wasn't about to let the witch die on me. Not when the plan was going so smoothly.

This meant that she should still get checked out.

I lifted her up, cradling her as I made my way towards the quarters exit.

"Where are we going?"

Her voice was faint enough to be a whisper, but I heard it easily.

"I'm taking you to the clinic."

She said nothing in response, and I figured it was because she didn't have enough energy to say anything else.

Meredith's POV

I could sense something was wrong.

It was just a feeling in the back of my mind, a nagging feeling, that I should be doing something.

"Is something wrong _cheri_?"

Sage.

I looked over at where he stood, in the doorway of my bedroom.

I sighed and stoop up from the bed. "I…I have a feeling something bad happened."

I knew it sounded a little crazy, but I couldn't help the way I felt.

I was surprised when understanding flashed through his eyes, and then a slightly anxious expression crossed his features.

"You…thought correctly."

My eyebrows rose. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head…obviously a little hesitant to tell me.

When he didn't say anything, I sighed and stepped towards him.

"Tell me Sage. Please? Does it have something to do with Bonnie or Elena?"

He sighed. "Yes."

I now glared slightly, the mother hen instincts that I normally felt for my friends kicking in.

"Tell me."

My voice wasn't pleading anymore, it was demanding.

He was silent again, and at first, I was a little afraid that he would refuse to tell me. And if he did, there really wasn't much I could do…as much as I hated it.

I was relieved when he finally spoke again.

"Follow me."

I followed Sage as we slowly walked through the hallways.

"Where are we going?"

"The clinic…something happened to Miss Elena and Bonnie that caused them both to be taken here."

I froze.

Sage looked back over his shoulder when he realized I was no longer walking.

"Are you alright _cheri_?"

Thoughts of all the things that could have happened flooded my mind.

Had Elena provoked a vampire and caused both her and Bonnie to be attacked? Did they team up and try to escape…even when I told them not too?"

I nodded quickly. "Yes."

We continued to walk, and eventually, Sage stopped at one of the many doors, opened it, and held it for me.

"After you."

His voice was charming, but I could catch a hint of urgency to it, as if he was afraid of what I would do once entering the clinic.

I stepped inside, and Sage immediately grabbed my arm, steering me through the huge, office-like area.

There weren't many patients waiting around to be treated, or as many staff members as you'd expect to see at a clinic, or hospital.

I guess it was because vampires normally didn't need any special medical treatment. Most of their injuries could heal in minutes, or even seconds.

We stopped at yet another door.

Sage turned slowly towards me. "This is Bonnie and Elena's room. Are you ready?"

I nodded, bracing myself for what I might have to see beyond the door.

Sage opened the door, and I sucked in a deep breath at what I saw.

Elena was lying in a bed on the far left of the room, fast asleep…unconscious.

Bonnie was lying in a bed close to hers…but she was awake, though slightly groggy looking…out of it.

Neither of them looked that hurt, but the sight of them in hospital beds still made my heart clench.

Bonnie offered me a small, though cheerful smile. "Hey Mere!"

Her voice was cheerful and giggly, and I groaned.

"They put her on a sedative", Stefan clarified. He had a slightly amused expression on his face as he watched Bonnie practically jumped up and down in her bed at the sight of me.

Damon, who had been standing on Bonnie's left, didn't look as amused.

He grabbed her arms gently, though firmly, and laid her back down on the bed, growling all the way.

"Stay down! You little idiot…."

Bonnie, still clearly higher than ever on the sedative, seemed to take no offense to his words, and gave another giggle.

She playfully flicked his noise, oblivious to his glare.

I stepped fully into the room, and looked over at Elena's bed.

"How long has she been out?"

"About two hours", Stefan answered, and there was something about his eyes that made him look…almost guilty. "She should be awake soon…though I don't think she'll be very happy with me once she does."

I glared, and walked over to Elena's bed protectively.

"Did you do something to her?"

Stefan shook his head quickly. "No…of course not. But I had to take some…precautions to make sure she'd be okay. She wasn't happy about it."

I already knew the answer from countless years of being told stories about vampires from my people.

Stefan had given Elena his blood.

But that could wait later.

"How…how did they exactly end up here?"

The question had been directed at Stefan, but it was Bonnie's giggly voice that answered.

"I fell down! I…I just felt so woozy! And EVERTHING was so hazy…the next think I knew, I fell on the ground."

Before I could add anything, she spoke again.

"And I hit my head."

She said it like a teacher giving a student one last hint to solve a math problem.

I sighed, and sat on the edge of her bed.

"Bonnie…do you think you know why you fell?"

She shook her head quickly, excitedly. "Sure do! It was the affects of magic loss."

The room grew silent. I had forgotten about the effects on not being able to use magic for long periods of time…

Damon's eyes looked at me, interested. "Magic loss?"

I was stuck.

I nodded. "Yes…it's what happens when witches aren't allowed to use magic for too long. They…begin to lose their strength, and can only take limited amounts of stress."

Damon looked bemused. His dark eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Hmmm…and may I ask why you haven't been affected?"

This was the question I feared he would ask. I didn't want to rat Sage out…

For once, I was at loss for words.

"Well, you see…."

"I'm afraid that was my doing Damon", Sage interrupted, stepping fully into the room. "I told her she was allowed to use magic…but only in my presence and in our quarters."

Damon's expression was flat, revealing no emotion. "And why would you do that?"

Sag shrugged, as if there was no importance whatsoever to the question.

"I find it ridiculous that they can't. And besides…it's far too boring in this place anyway."

Sage was always so nonchalant while talking about magic….but I couldn't help but feel as if t sounded forced somehow.

I knew he was hiding something. There was another reason he was so interested in seeing me perform magic. And it was obviously something that both Damon and Stefan knew, because they were giving him serious glances.

"Sage…you could get in a lot of trouble with your parents", Stefan said, not seeming happy about having to side with Damon.

Sage looked flatly at him. "I'm aware of that…and that's why neither of you are going to tell them."

Both Damon and Stefan were silent, and Sage gave a low chuckle. "And besides…with these MAGIC LOSS side effects, it may be best for you to allow your witches to use their magic as well."

Damon glared, and looked down at the overly smiling Bonnie, irritated at the fact that Sage had a point."

"And there's nothing I care about more than the well-being of Elena and Bonnie", I added dangerously. "I can be pretty…impulsive if it means protecting them."

Yes, I knew I was pulling an Elena, and being completely reckless and…dumb but I couldn't help it. I couldn't allow myself to bask in the relief of being able to use my magic while my best friends were suffering.

"I'll do it", Stefan said slowly, reluctantly.

We all turned towards Damon, who sighed.

"I'll think about it."

He said it shortly and abruptly, leaving no questions to be asked.

The door suddenly opened again, causing Bonnie to jump about five feet into the air, and let out a small yelp of surprise.

Damon gave a low growl of irritation, and laid her back down, this time keeping his arms on her to keep her from moving again.

The person who walked in was a brown-eyed, vampire, with short, cropped, hazel brown hair.

She looked flatly as us.

"That one is free to go", she said, pointing at Bonnie. "The sedative should wear off in another thirty minutes or so."

Damon nodded, already getting ready to lift Bonnie out of the bed.

"What about Elena?" Stefan asked.

"As soon as she wakes up, your free to take her", the female vampire said, then turned towards the rest of us. "I'm going to have to ask you four to leave."

Damon and Sage both nodded respectfully.

Sage grabbed my arm, and steered me out of the room, and from the corner of my eye, I could see Damon lift a laughing Bonnie out of her bed, leaving Stefan behind with Elena.

When we were outside in the hallways, and would have to go our separate ways, Sage turned towards Damon.

"You really aren't going to let anyone know…are you?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "No."

Sage smiled slightly. "Thanks friend."

Damon didn't say anything, and merely turned around to head in the direction of his quarters, carrying a slightly struggling Bonnie.

I sighed after them. "You don't think he'll hurt her do you?"

I was bit afraid. Damon was obviously an irritable vampire, and Bonnie wasn't exactly in the most normal mood…

Sage gave a small laugh. "No…Damon tries to keep a tough exterior, but he doesn't have the heart to harm someone as innocent as Bonnie. She'll be fine."

Hearing it relaxed me a little.

"Thank you", I said suddenly.

He looked at me questionably. "For what?"

"For standing up to me, Elena, and Bonnie by telling Damon and Stefan to let them use magic…it'll help a lot of they let them."

He gave me a small smile. "It was nothing."

We walked in silence the rest of the way to the quarters, my head swimming with thoughts.

Sage was indeed a mystery…today; I had found out a bit more about him. He seemed to be extremely attached to the idea of magic…and there was no doubt that it was more than just a fascination.

And I was going to find out what it was…one way or another.

**A/N: So the truth it…I lost my inspiration to write fanfiction for a little bit. It got so bad, that I ALMOST considered quitting. But then I remembered how much fun I had writing, a made myself get out of the writer's block. I'm going to try really hard to update more regularly you guys! I'm really glad to be back. :)**

**As always, review for a sneak peek. :) **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**A/N: Hope I didn't make you guys wait TOO long this time…**

**Rainbow: I'm not done with fanfiction yet! I was just going through a rough patch with it. But things are slowly getting better. Thanks for the review. :)**

**Maria: Thank you! :)**

**Baby-A: Thank you :)**

**Raine: Thanks :)**

**Laila: Thanks! :)**

**anonymous4now: Thank you for your encouraging words. Your review made me smile. I do suffer from a little bit of writer's block. I am guilty of critiquing myself when I'm writing, but I'll take your advice and try to overcome that. Thanks again :)**

**akshara: Hello. :) Thanks for the review. **

**Veronica: Gracias por el largo examen! Me alegro de que le han gustado Damon celosamente de Bonnie en este capítulo. :)**

**Alexis: No need to cry lol. Thanks so much. Your reviews always put a smile on my face. I hope you like this chapter. :)**

**Nancy: Awww your English is just fine. Thanks for taking the time to read my story. :)**

**Tvdforever: Firstly, thanks for the lengthy review. I love those! And you think Damon is too soft? It was never really my intention to make him CRUEL per se, just a bit cold. But if he's too soft; I have something planned for later chapters. Thanks again. :)**

**Mickey: Haha thanks. I'm really glad you like it :)**

Bonnie's POV:

I woke up with a splitting headache as I slowly forced myself to sit up, trying to remember the events of last night.

I…I had felt so dizzy, and then….collapsed? But after that, I couldn't remember ANYTHING, or how I even ended up in bed. Had Damon found me and put me here?

"Morning Sunshine."

I quickly looked up, and saw Damon standing in the doorway, leaning lazily against the corner, his expression unreadable.

"Damon?" I murmured, rubbing my eyes one last time to wake myself up. "Did…did you put me to bed?"

He nodded, and then a small grimace passed his expression. "After a large amount of effort…yes."

"Effort?"

"When you collapsed, you hit your head. I had to take you to clinic and they put you on a sedative to numb the pain. You were acting a bit…oddly."

"Oh" I flushed in realization, remembering the last time I had been put on a sedative back home. It hadn't been pretty.

I shook my head, trying to my embarrassment. "Well…thank you."

"You're welcome." He looked at me silently for a moment before speaking again. "Tell me-why do you think you collapsed like that in the first place?"

I was afraid he would ask this. "Um…well, I…I"

He impatiently waved me off. "One of your friends…the dark-haired one…"

"Meredith?"

He nodded. "She said that it most likely had something to do with you not being able to use magic. The same thing happened to your blonde friend."

"Elena", I supplied, only to earn a glare of frustration.

"Is that true?"He finally asked.

After some hesitation, I finally nodded, waiting to see his reaction…which was not what I expected.

He sighed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't want to make you mad", I answered honestly. "Katherine…said witches weren't allowed to use magic here."

"That's true. But next time a rule is preventing you from being safe, tell me. We can always find…exceptions."

My eyes widened. "You mean…"

He nodded. "I will allow you to use magic. But there will be some rules…"

I cut him off as I nearly jumped out of the bed, running up to him and hugging him around his torso.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

I knew this was probably an over-reaction, but I couldn't help it. The idea of being able to use my magic again…even with limitations was amazing and relieving.

I could tell that I had taken him by surprise, and felt him awkwardly hug me back after a brief hesitation.

"You're welcome…but I suggest that you get dressed before you walk around too much."

Hearing that, I quickly broke away from him, and to my horror, I realized I was standing in only a shirt and underwear…no pants.

My cheeks flushed a flaming red, and I nearly bolted back to the bed, quickly covering myself up with the blanket.

"You…you took off my pants?"

He frowned, but I could tell he was suppressing a grin. "I figured you would be uncomfortable sleeping with your jeans on."

"Oh god", I murmured, burying my face into a pillow and away from his line of vision. My embarrassment made me speak without thinking. "Just…just go away please. I'll be down soon."

He actually did what I asked, but I could hear him give out a low chuckle before shutting the door.

Elena's POV

I woke up with a bit of a headache, and memories from what happened the night before came rushing back.

Stefan…had given me his blood. And he compelled me to let him do it.

Gritting my teeth in anger, I tried to brush aside the horror at felt…knowing that I had vampire blood forced into my system…one of the worse things to happen to a witch besides actually getting bitten.

I quickly got out of the bed, and for the first time, really looked around at my surroundings.

I wasn't in Stefan's quarters…that was for sure. So where was I?

I did another look around, my eyes slowly coming out of sleep and becoming more focused, and finally spotted a door.

After seeing that there was no other way out, I headed towards it, just praying that it would be unlocked.

Luckily, it was, and I slowly opened it, and stepped out.

Once outside of the room, I looked around and saw that I was in some sort of office-like place, with a plenty of chairs, and desks included.

"I assure you Stefan; she should be getting up any time now."

Walking slowly to not cause suspicion among the other vampires in the area, I headed towards the area where the voice came from, and soon, Stefan and another tall, female vampire came into view.

The female vampire spotted me, and gave a small smile. "And look you it is."

Stefan turned towards me and eyed me cautiously.

"Elena." His tone had a tinge of relief in it. "Are…you feeling okay?"

I glared, not answering his question. "You compelled me to drink your blood."

His small smile disappeared, replaced with a slightly guilty expression. "I had too."

I shook my head quickly. "You took away my free will. I told you that I was fine."

"You were weak Elena, and only getting weaker. I was worried about what would happen if I didn't do something, and you refused to take it." He let out a small sigh. "I'm sorry that it had to come down to compelling you, but I was afraid."

I opened my mouth to protest again, when this time, the female vampire who he had been talking to before cut me off.

"Mr. Salvatore saved your life witch. I would be more grateful if I were you", she snapped, giving me a small glare. "With the way your condition was, there's no doubt in my mind that you could have possibly died without the energy boost his blood gave you."

That was actually enough to put me at a loss of words.

I looked towards Stefan, whose expression, for once, showed no kindness…only seriousness.

He silently turned towards the female vampire. "Thank you Sandra…for your time. Elena and I should probably be heading back to my quarters."

The vampire…that I now knew as "Sandra" nodded at him, throwing me one last glare that I had to fight to not reciprocate.

Wordlessly, Stefan led me out of the office-like building, and down the hallways that I was now becoming more familiar to.

It wasn't until we actually reached the door to his quarters that he finally said something.

"You can just go up to your room once we're inside if you want. I promise not to bother you."

I nodded, and he finally unlocked the door, leaving it open for me as I stepped inside, and then closing it behind us both.

Once inside, he began to walk in the direction of the living room, and I finally forced myself to say something.

"Is…is what she said true? Would I have…died?"

It was the most vulnerable I had allowed myself to sound since I arrived here.

After a small hesitation, he answered in an emotionless voice. "It was possible. At the time, I wasn't really thinking…I just knew that there was a risk, and acted."

"Oh."

I wanted to smack myself for not coming up with anything better to say.

There was a small awkward silence where we just stood there, staring at each other.

I finally broke it. "I guess I'll just head up to my room."

"Fine."

With that, he turned away from me and continued his walk towards the living area, while I walked up the staircase, threw open the door to my room, and collapsed on the bed, lost in thought.

If what they were saying was true…Stefan Salvatore had saved my life.

Matt's POV (Third person)

Mrs. Sanderson was getting on his last nerve.

It was nearing the end of the first half of the quarter, and the old teacher was definitely making it a time to dread…piling them with test after test.

_And it isn't like we don't have other things on our mind_, Matt thought bitterly and sarcastically. _So what if three of my best friends were taken to live with leeches? We still have the finals to take!_

It infuriated Matt to no end that he seemed to be the only one in the clan to ever lose sleep at night, or think about the well being of the three girls…who were also their princesses.

Well, he was sure their parents worried about them and missed them, but they hardly showed it. As the royals of the clan, they continued on with their duties and speeches, acting like they had moved on, and accepted their daughters' fate.

Only Matt seemed to want to rebel, and…do SOMETHING about it.

"Matt?"

The sound of Mrs. McCullough, Bonnie's mother, stopped him, and he turned around to face her.

"Yes your majesty?"

The petite woman looked haggard. Her eyes were bloodshot, obviously just having got done crying, and her hair was in tangles in every length.

Not the usual way the royals allowed themselves to be seen as.

In a thick voice, she spoke.

"I got a letter from Bonnie yesterday. And…a paragraph or so was addressed to you. She had to write it all into one letter because they wouldn't let her send more than one."

"Oh"

Matt mentally kicked himself for the responses, but he didn't know what to say for once, or how to comfort a mother grieving the separation of her and her only child.

Mrs. McCullough handed him a small piece of paper, and Matt could tell that she had cut his part of the letter from the rest of it, as if she wanted to keep the rest with her…to have something of Bonnie's.

"Thanks", Matt said, bowing to her respectfully.

The small queen nodded, and turned away from him, heading the way she came.

Matt watched her slowly disappear for a moment, before shaking himself out of his reverie and continuing his walk towards home. He would read the "letter" as soon as he was alone.

Until someone else stopped him.

"Matt? Are you coming to the party tonight?"

Matt rolled his eyes before turning towards the person who spoke.

"No Caroline…I'm not."

Caroline Forbes stood in front of him, a small grin on her face, auburn hair up in a ponytail, and her green, cat-like eyes holding a certain gleam in them.

"Why not? You never have any fun these days."

"I'm not really in the mood to have fun Caroline."

Caroline was one of the people here in the clan that had been riding on his very last mood. She had never really been friends with Bonnie, Elena, or Meredith (she and Elena even had some sort of rivalry), but the nonchalant way she handled what happened to them angered him to no end.

She even seemed a bit…happy about it even. As if she was relieved that the three princesses would no longer be around to steal the stage.

Caroline sighed, and lifted her hand to touch his face, but he quickly moved away.

Her eyes looked a bit angry at the rejection, but quickly went back to being unreadable. "Matt, they're GONE. It's time you've moved on and accepted it."

Matt glared. "You're making it sound like they're dead."

She shrugged, either not noticing his impatience, or choosing to ignore it. "Maybe they are. They're among vampires after all."

Angrily, Matt opened his mouth to shout something back at her, but a sudden thought hit him.

Maybe…she could be right. After all, the girls had gone to live with vampires…and were each ENGAGED to one. Maybe their husbands would want them…changed, turned into monsters.

Which was a fate even worse than death.

_Don't think like that_, he scolded himself. _Just wait…you're going to read the letter from Bonnie, and realize that they're fine…that you still have time to save them._

With one last cold glare towards Caroline, he turned away from her, continuing his walk home. He could hear her call his name impatiently a couple of times, but he ignored it, not giving her a second glance.

He approached the small house that he and his parents lived in, and sighed in relief at remembering that both of his parents were both gone for the night…doing work for clan and the vampires that came as a package deal with their surrender.

Though he hated the reason his parents were out, he couldn't help but feel glad that he could use the alone time to read Bonnie's letter.

With trembling hands, and fear of what he might be about to read, he unfolded the small piece of paper.

Inside, was writing that he could easily tell was Bonnie's.

_Dear Matt,_

_How have you been? I'm not even sure if they'll let you to write back to me, but it was worth the shot._

_I miss you…and everyone else. But just know that Elena, Meredith, and I are okay. They haven't done anything to us yet, and I don't think they will…at least not for a while. _

_We all three have our own rooms, and though the rules are strict, we've been treated okay. _

_I do hope that they let you visit us someday…and my parents. It gets lonely here. I rarely get to see Elena or Meredith, and when I do, we always have to leave each other. It's only been about a week, and I already miss our old lives._

_But we're alive…and not hurt. Tell everyone at school that I said hi._

_Love,_

_Bonnie_

Matt folded the paper back up and put it in his pocket.

The letter hadn't been as bad as he'd it would, but it still unnerved him. He knew that Bonnie could very easily be sugar-coating a lot of the letter, in order to not make people worry about her. It was something she would do.

But he did know one thing: all three of them were okay…and not vampires.

It wasn't too late to save them…

Bonnie's POV

After I was fully dressed, I walked down the stairs to the first floor of the quarters, finding that I wasn't as afraid as I had been only a few days now.

"Completely dressed now", a voice chuckled from my right.

I blushed and turned in his direction. "Ye…yes."

There was a small hint of a smile on his beautiful face, before in a flash, it was gone, and his normal impassive expression took its place.

"You and your friends will be attending breakfast with us and the queen this morning. Katherine should be here any moment now to pick you up."

I simply nodded. "Okay."

This was both a good, and a bad thing.

It was a bad thing, because it involved another task at having to act comfortable around a bunch of vampires, and a good thing because I would get to see Elena and Meredith.

If only I knew then that a huge disaster would take place in the aftermath of that breakfast…

**A/N: Sorry that this chapter was kind of short, but I wanted to post it quickly for feeling so bad about the wait :(**

**And for people who've been enjoying Meredith and Sage, I'm sorry that they weren't in this chapter, but they will be in the next one, along with appearances from Katherine and Klaus.**

**And this is an individual apology to Samantha (my editor, if you're reading this). I felt bad for always making you wait for me to write the updates, so I decided that I would be better off without a beta. I make the ones I have wait too long. Sorry :(**

**BUT this girl is an AMAZING Beta/Editor. If anyone wants or needs one, PM ****socialbutrfly1379. You won't regret it :D**

**Lastly…review for a sneak peek! **


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**A/N: After a while, here's another update for you guys! :) Sorry that I've failed so badly as a fanfiction author lately.**

**Also, before I go into answering anonymous reviews individually, I'm going to address some of the complaints I've gotten at the lack of "Bamon goodness" in this story. As much as I love writing romantic Bamon scenes, I'm trying to give them a little bit of a better build up in this story then I have in past ones…one, because I'm trying to improve my writing and storytelling (that's why I got an account on this site in the first place) two, because this is a AU, and in this Damon and Bonnie met for the first time when they first saw each other in this story…so there's no back history between them. It's going to take some time for them to fall in love. You have to be patient….and I promise not to fail in the number of romantic Bamon scenes when that time comes.**

**Cheakymonkey: Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Pandaforever: Not going to say anything ;) But Klaus is in this chapter, and he is definitely going to cause some trouble for our beloved Bamon in the future. Thanks for the review :)**

**kat stars: Thanks so much! :)**

**Sophie: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story :)**

**Saverina: I love Bamon in both the books and show (though, more so in the books, because they're better developed and I prefer the book version of Damon) and judging from your review, you're a fan of the TV show. Thanks for giving this story a chance even if the books aren't your cup of tea :)**

**KatieBella: Thank you! And I'm not…it's just a slow process lol :)**

**Maria: Not planning on stopping any time soon :) Thank you for the review.**

**Izzfizz: Thank you so much :)**

**Veronica: Jaja no me gusta Elena tampoco. Pero yo soy mejor para ella que la mayoría de los aficionados Bamon ... porque yo realmente amo Stelena. En este capítulo se tendrá apariciones de Meredith, Sage, Stefan y Elena. Y me alegro de que te gusta la historia Bamon hasta el momento. Gracias por el comentario :)**

**Baby-A: Thanks :)**

**Princess88: Thank you! :)**

**BamonForEternity: Glad you liked the Bamon scenes in the last chapter. Thanks for the review :)**

**Morganitta: I actually like Damon this way too :) My plan was never to make Damon evil in this story…just kind of reserved. And I think I'm doing okay with that so far. Though…he does do something kind of bad in this chapter (don't kill me xD) Thanks for reviewing :)**

**Alexis: Your reviews never fail to make me smile! Thanks so much :) BTW, if you made an account, you need to tell me your pen name missy!**

**Warning to all: Some angst ahead at the end of this chapter.**

Bonnie's POV

Breakfast started out fine…if not kind of awkward.

Meredith, Elena, and I all three sat by our assigned vampire fiancés, while the royals, Queen Drina and King Christian sat on the other side facing us.

The food was good. It was sort of a breakfast buffet that included a huge plate of mini pancakes, a large pitcher of maple syrup, a bowl of strawberries, a platter of bacon and sausage, eggs, and more.

The awkward part was that only me, Elena, and Meredith ate. The vampires hadn't even bothered to dish themselves up some plates. Instead, they spent the morning discussing our marriages like a business plan….as they normally did.

I zoned out most of the conversation, and focused on my food, only speaking when I was asked a question, which actually didn't happen much this time.

Occasionally, one of them would mention "the mission" and we would all three glance at each other frantically, secretly knowing what the "mission" was.

And Meredith would give us both that reassuring look only we would recognize, and we would both go back to focusing on our food.

Meredith had promised us that she would find a way to get us out of going along with the vampires' "mission", without us having to run away and endanger our people, and I had faith in her.

"This will close the meeting for the morning", Christian finally said, signaling the end of the "breakfast".

Damon grabbed my arm, as if he had been waiting for the meeting to end, and we stoop up together.

But just as we were about to go out the door, Drina stopped us.

"I would like to see the three girls early morning tomorrow, after they have their breakfast", she said, addressing Damon, Stefan, and Sage. "If that is alright with you of course."

They all three nodded.

"Of course your majesty", Stefan said; before all three vampires led us out of the room.

Once in the hallway, Damon turned me around to face him, surprising me by placing the key to the quarters in my hand.

I gasped. "What…."

He cut me off. "I need you to head off to the quarters alone tonight…for a few minutes. I have something I need to do."

I nodded. "Okay."

His dark eyes assessed me for another moment, before he turned away, heading off in another direction.

For a moment, I just stood there, still surprised and wondering what he was up to.

I shook myself out of the haze, and made my way towards the hallways that led to the quarters, smiling a little.

He trusted me. Or at least he did a little, if he was willing to give me the key and let me go to the quarters alone.

Even though it probably shouldn't have, it made me feel a little happy at knowing that I wasn't completely untrustworthy to him.

I was just about to enter the main passage that I remembered led to the quarters by the many times I walked down it now, but was stopped by someone stepping in front of me.

Klaus.

My sense immediately went on alert, as I tried not to shake with fear. There was something about those cold blue eyes that just didn't sit right…not to mention that our last meeting with each other wasn't exactly pleasant.

He was smiling, in a way that almost seemed creepy…and all I wanted to do was head back to the quarters and never approach him again.

"Excuse me", I said, in a voice that, to my relief, didn't shake as I tried to move past him.

But he only moved so that he was in front of me again.

"Scared of the big bad wolf, little witch?"

I shivered slightly. "Anything I can do for you?"

It was likely that he only wanted to verbally mess with me. Best to get it over with so he would leave me alone and let me get back to the quarters.

To my surprise, he nodded, but his eyes still have that glint to them that made him look a little crazy.

"Mind if we have a little…chat? In private?"

Before I even had a chance to answer, he was forcefully pulling me away, towards a back corner of the castle where no one could see us…or even hear us easily, considering how big the castle was. Once he got me there, I attempted to scream, but he roughly covered my mouth, his voice hissing in my ear.

"Be quiet would you? I only want a word. And then I'll let you go."

Not really having much of a choice, I nodded, and he let go of me.

There was no way I could run. We were too far away from everyone else, and he would catch up to me and stop me easily.

I couldn't use any magic. Because I was still a student, and anything I could do wouldn't be a match for a old…and possibly unstable vampire.

And I couldn't scream, because he, once again, could easily silence me if he wanted to.

All I could do was stand there and listen…and hope that he kept his word about letting me go.

When Klaus seemed satisfied about the way I stood, not looking like I was going to try to run away, he let go of me, and spoke.

"I want to offer you a deal."

"What kind of a deal?" I asked.

To my discomfort, my voice did shake a little this time.

He seemed to notice, and a sly smile crossed his lips. "I know your secret."

When I didn't say anything, he continued.

"I know that you are your little friends know about the mission."

My fear doubled in that moment.

The scariest vampire knew about our secret. Would he tell the royals? Or take care of the problem on his own?

And what would happen to us if he did?

"How…how did you….."

He waved me off impatiently. "Does it really matter? All you need to know is that I know."

He leaned closer to me. "But don't worry, I won't tell anyone. This is where the deal comes in. How would you like to not have to go along with it?"

I frowned a little. "You're offering to help us?"

He nodded. "And there's only one thing you need to do for me."

He spoke his next few words softly.

"I need you to help me get rid of Damon…for good."

_To get rid of._ And due to Klaus's violent nature, I knew what he meant by that.

"Why?"

He grimaced. "Because I hate the bastard. And….I have something I need to settle with him."

Had this deal been offered to me only a few weeks ago, I would have taken it…in a flat second.

But I couldn't now. Not only because Klaus was crazy…and there was no way I could trust him, but also because I had gotten to know Damon better. He was still cold at times, and I dreaded the idea of having to marry a vampire, but I've seen a good side to him.

The way he let me use magic when he found out not being able to do it was hurting me, and the way he teased me this morning. He almost seemed human.

I just couldn't help someone kill him.

I shook my head, a little afraid to speak the words, but knowing I had to. "No deal."

Like I feared it would, the smile on Klaus's face vanished at my words, and he gripped my arm hard enough to make me let out a little yelp of pain.

"Listen witch…."

"Klaus."

Both of our heads snapped away from each other to look over to the direction the voice came from.

Damon stood a few feet away from us, his arms crossed over his chest angrily, and his dark eyes cold.

Despite his furious stance, I had never been more relieved to see him.

"Damon…."

At the sound of my voice, he looked towards me, his eyes softening slightly for a moment, in a gesture I assumed was supposed to be comforting, before they went cold again, as he glared at Klaus.

"Get away from her."

His voice was so icy and scarily straight forward that even I shivered a little.

Apparently, it had affected Klaus a little too, because he reluctantly did as he said, and let go of my arm.

I rubbed it a little as I rushed to Damon's side. I was pretty sure he'd griped it hard enough to bruise.

Damon stood protectively right beside me as he continued to glare at Klaus.

"Aside from stalking my witch, what else have you been up to? Last night in particular?"

I could hear a suspicious tone in his voice.

Klaus raised his eyebrows, his sly, creepy smile from before returning.

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Why do you ask?"

Damon growled; a noise that made me jump a little.

"You wouldn't happen to know what happened to my lower commons last night, would you?"

I looked back and forth between them as they spoke, completely confused.

Klaus shrugged, the smile not leaving his lips.

"Even if I do, you don't have any proof against me."

Damon glared at him for another moment before pulling me gently to his side, still furious, but obviously reluctantly accepting that Klaus was right.

"Let's go redbird."

Redbird. That nickname again….

I silently let him lead me away from Klaus, and we walked into the hallway that led to the quarters.

"Thank you…for getting me out of that", I said, as I watched him unlock the door to the quarters.

He didn't say anything, and simply pushed me lightly inside the quarters, locking the door behind us.

His eyes were cold, not as cold as they had been when he glared at Klaus, but it still made me nervous.

"What were you thinking? Talking to him?"

"I'm sorry", I said softly. "I was going to the quarters like you told me to, but he got in the way. He wouldn't leave me alone."

He looked blankly at me for a moment before sighing, calming himself down.

"_Va bene, _but I need you to stay away from him. I don't want you near him again."

I thought about pointing out, once again, that I was forced to talk to Klaus, but thought better of it, and kept my mouth shut.

"But…Damon? There's something you need to know."

I paused before finishing. "Klaus wants to kill you. He tried to offer me a deal to get me to help him do it."

Damon chuckled. "That's nothing new. He's always plotted to get me killed."

The way he said it was so casual, as if it was some sort of game they played between the two of them.

"What was the deal he offered you?"

I froze for a moment, but luckily I was able to move past my nervousness and came up with a decent lie. I didn't want him to know that we knew about the vampires' mission.

"He offered to help me, Elena, and Meredith get back home."

His eyes widened a fraction in surprise. "And you didn't do it?"

I shook my head. "No….I couldn't help him kill you. You….you're my friend Damon."

My own words shocked me. I hadn't even been thinking it. The word "friend" just slipped out.

Damon was silent for a moment, before nodding, gesturing towards the stairs.

"Go up to your bedroom and freshen up. I have…things I need to attend to."

I nodded, and turned towards the staircase, not questioning his request.

I would be nice to have some time to myself…to think over what just happened.

**Third Person POV: Meredith**

Sage was gone….at some meeting with the royals.

And that meant this was perfect time to look at the book.

Meredith was up in her bedroom, bent over a spell book that Sage had gotten her from the castle library.

She wasn't sure if Sage knew how advanced some of these spell and potions were…because if he did, she doubted he would have given her the book.

After spending nearly an hour flipping through the book, she had come across many different things: Potions to cure diseases…deadly ones, and ones as simple as the common cold, a spell to duplicate yourself, ways to magically read others' minds, and many more.

But there was only one thing in the book that she wanted….and needed.

A potion to make someone infertile.

She had taken a good amount of time studying the page for it in the book, and she found that once the potion was made, it would be easy to use.

All she, Bonnie, and Elena would have to do was take a sip…and they would become infertile…unable to have children.

Which would ruin the chances of the vampires going along with their mission.

There were only two problems: most of the ingredients for it were going to be hard to find, and it was going to take three months to make it.

But with how interested Sage was in her magic, she was sure she would be able to convince him to get the ingredients for her somehow…and just come up with a good lie about what the potion was for. He trusted her.

She sighed a little at the thought.

She didn't want to lie to Sage. He had been nothing but good to her since she got here, and she had even grown to like him.

But she couldn't….wouldn't allow herself or Elena and Bonnie to become impregnated with vampire children. She just wouldn't.

The potion needed to be made…even if it meant her betraying Sage's trust.

Suddenly, she heard thumping coming from downstairs, and quickly shut the book, assuming Sage had finally come back, and not wanting him to see the page she'd been looking at.

Meredith got up from her place on the floor, and walked out of the bedroom, heading downstairs.

Sure enough, like she expected to, she found Sage at the bottom of them, standing in the dining room.

She forced a smile at him. "So….how was the meeting?"

Sage shrugged, looking disinterested.

"_Ennuyeux, _I'm glad it's over."

He cocked his dead to the side, looking at her curiously.

"Did you find anything interesting in that old book?"

Meredith nodded. "I did. And actually….I was wondering if you wanted to help me out with making a potion."

"Oh?" He slumped down into one of the chairs, taking a sip from of the unknown liquid from the cup he had in his hands. "What type of potion?"

"It's a good health potion", she lied smoothly. "From the description in the books, it says drinking it will bring the drinker good physical health for the rest of their lives."

She shrugged. "It's not the most exciting potion, but it will be the first one I make without the help of a teacher. I figured I should start with a simple one."

Like she expected he would, Sage nodded, looking interested.

"I'll help. I actually got that book from my mother's old storage. I'm sure I can…"

"Wait", Meredith said, cutting him off. "You said….your mother."

Sage's eyes widened a fraction, as if now just realizing what he said.

For a moment, he looked like he wanted to take it back and deny it, but he eventually let out a sigh.

"Yes…I did."

Meredith frowned. "So your mother was a witch?"

He nodded.

So that was why he was so interested in magic.

_Well, that's one mystery solved_, she thought.

"You were a warlock as a human?"

He shook his head. "No. I was never a human." He gestured at himself. "I've been a vampire since the day I was born."

"What…."

"My mother was a witch….but my father was a vampire", he answered.

**Third Person POV: Elena**

Stefan still hadn't said anything to her since they got back to his quarters.

And for some reason….the silence bothered her.

Only a few days ago, she was constantly telling him to leave her alone…and now she wanted him to talk to her.

Elena sat on her bed, shaking her head at her own insanity.

What was wrong with her? Why would she suddenly WANT interaction with a monster? She'd been perfectly content with him staying away from her only a short while ago.

But deep down, she knew the reason was suddenly feeling like this. It was because he had saved her life….when she'd been nothing but harsh to him since the moment she got here.

If she was going to get any rest this morning before she was dragged off to do something else the monsters wanted, she had to thank him at least…if only to hopefully clear her head a little.

She forced herself out of the bed, and out the door, heading downstairs.

She found Stefan in the lobby, sitting in an armchair by the fireplace and reading a book.

The sight of it was so utterly human-looking that she actually had to take a second glance.

He noticed her come in, and his green eyes looked up at her in surprise.

"Anything I can do for you Elena?"

At first, she almost wanted to shake her head no and go back upstairs to forget this whole plan, but she force her feet to stay planted to their spot.

She sighed. "I….I just wanted to thank you for saving me earlier."

"You're welcome." His tone sounded genuinely pleasantly surprised. "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Elena looked down at her feet for a moment, before looking back up, grimacing slightly.

"I'm just trying to figure out why you would do it. You said yourself that you didn't like this arrangement anymore then I did…and I'm not nice to you."

He gave a small laugh at that. "Well….at least you're honest."

She scowled. "So why bother saving me? You could have been rid of me, not have to go through with the marriage, and they wouldn't have blamed you."

This had been the question in her mind ever since she had found out he'd saved her life. He didn't want to marry her…for neither her personality, nor for the fact that she was a witch. There really was no logical reason as to why he would want her to live.

His green eyes softened. "I saved you because believe it or not, I'm not the heartless monster you think I am."

He stood up. "You never gave me a chance. From the day you walked in through the castle door, you hated me."

Elena scoffed. "Vampires are monsters…all they do is take and take…they don't have any humanity."

"Then why did I save you? Not going to lie, you're a pain. And I probably would be better off with you gone. And I still saved you."

He was standing directly in front of her now. "There are exceptions to every judgment. And whether you want to believe it or not….I care about you. Not because I like you, but because I feel for you."

"I don't need your pity."

"Why not? You were forcefully taken from your home, forced to become engaged to someone you dislike, and are in a place that's unfamiliar to you. Maybe you could use someone to look after you….and I can guarantee you that no other vampire in this place would be more willing to help you then me."

He chuckled. "And no other vampire would put up with you like I have."

She smiled a little at that…she couldn't help it.

Stefan took out his hand then. "How about we start over? I'm Stefan Salvatore."

After a brief hesitation, she took his hand and shook it.

"I'm Elena Gilbert."

**Bonnie's POV**

I was sitting in my room about thirty minutes after Damon told me to come up here.

It gave me time to think. I was scared. Klaus knows that we know about the mission, and there was no telling what he would do.

Especially since I had made him mad by not taking his deal.

"Redbird?"

I turned towards the door.

Damon was standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable.

"Hi", I said quietly, suddenly a little shy. "Did you…did you do what you needed to do?"

He nodded. "I've come to a decision…follow me."

He walked out the door, and I followed, and he led me down the stairs and into the lobby.

"What decision did you make?" I asked, generally curious.

His expression turned a little grim, and it scared me.

"A decision about your safety." He paused for a moment, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Klaus isn't going to leave you alone…and I need to have a way of knowing when you're in trouble."

Now I was getting a little scared. The grim way he was speaking, and the way his dark eyes had a flash of regret in them was enough to unnerve anyone.

"What do you mean?"

"We need to do a blood bond redbird. It's the only way for me to know if you need help when you need it."

My eyes widened. I had heard about blood bonds from stories about vampires from back home…and I knew there was no way I could let him do it.

So I ran. I tried to make a bolt for the stairs, but he still caught me, like I deep down knew he would, and pinned me gently though firmly against the wall, his fang out.

I tried to scream, but he covered my mouth, muffling it. "No need to do that. No one will hear you anyway."

_Or care_, I thought to myself.

"Damon…please don't do this."

I was close to tears now, and my voice shook. That's how scared I was.

His eyes softened briefly, and for a moment, I actually thought he was going to let me go, but they instantly went unreadable again.

"I have to."

He tightened his grip on me slightly, and began leaning his head towards my neck, so that his fangs were now barely grazing my neck.

"It doesn't have to hurt. If you would relax, I can actually make it quite enjoyable for you."

That was then his fangs pierced into my neck, and I let out a small whimper at the sharp pain.

But I fought hard to relax. If I was going to be forced to do this, I wanted it to at least be painless.

And like he promised, I actually felt a strange pleasure run through me as he continued to drink my blood, and I let out a small moan of enjoyment.

It felt good. And even though my mind was deep down screaming at me to get out of it, the other part of me was enjoying it.

When he leaned away from my neck finally, he bit into his own wrist, forcing it to my lips.

"Drink."

And I did as he asked, without question.

I placed my lips further onto his wrist, and began to drink from it.

His blood was sweet….and had a certain taste to it that I couldn't quite explain.

But I liked it.

He chuckled as he watched me drink, maybe amused by my willingness, before pulling his wrist away. "That's enough for now redbird."

He looked at me with an expression that was almost seductive. "But I can always give you more later….just ask."

I smiled at him for a moment, lost in a daze, before realization finally dawned on me.

I just blood bonded with a vampire. I was permanently linked to him.

And I drank his blood willingly…somehow; he had made me willing to do it.

"What did you do?" I asked shakily, backing away from him, suddenly scared.

His eyes flashed in concern. "Redbird…."

He reached out a hand for me, but I retracted from it like it was a snake, and headed towards the staircase.

"No! Leave me alone…you….you made me do something that I didn't want to do!"

With tears beginning to stream down my cheeks, I ran up the stairs and into my room, shutting the door behind me.

**A/N: Review for a sneak peek! **

**Important points to remember in this chapter:**

**Damon and Bonnie are now bonded**

**Meredith is going to make a potion to help her and Elena and Bonnie get out of going along with the vampires plan…even if it means lying to Sage.**

**Sage is a witch/vampire hybrid**

**I'm pointing these out, because they are all going to play important parts in the story later on.**

**Hope you liked the chapter :)**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

**Anonymous responses:**

**Chibibook: Thank you so much! And I'm glad that you like the buildup of the story so far :) I've been trying to build all three couples with a semi-realistic pace at least. **

**OfCourseItsMe: Thank you! And sorry I've been so slow for the past few months. High school SUCKS.**

**Lorlahdae: Thanks :) And I hope I didn't make you wait too long for this one.**

**Ruby: Aww thank you. :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Thanks for the dedication.**

**Zeena: Yeah, Bonnie is a little bit of a stronger character in this story. But I hope I'm keeping the overall essence of her character from the original books. I don't want to make her totally OOC. Thanks for the review :)**

**Veronica: Gracias! Me alegro que te guste mi forma de escribir personaje de Damon. Y mi forma de escribir Bamon. Sí, estoy tratando de escribir Damon con una mezcla de suavidad y un poco de mala ... que es parte de la razón por la que le hizo ver que en el último capítulo. Pero él se va a sentir mal por ello el tiempo;)**

**LisaniV: Hey hun! Good to hear from you again :) I'm glad you liked the chapter. And for your question about Klaus, the reason he isn't going after Meredith or Elena with bribes or threats is because Bonnie is the one engaged to Damon…and therefore, the one that can get the closest to him. So she's the only witch he's really interested in gaining an alliance with (which was a fail anyway, since Bonnie is still determined to side with Damon over Klaus…because despite her situation, she see's Damon as a safer person to trust. (And before the end of the last chapter, even considered him as a friend). Hope that cleared things up :) And yes, Damon and Bonnie are going to feel everything the other feels because of the blood bond ;)**

**Carolina: ¡Gracias! Y espero que no me dejen esperando por mucho tiempo este momento. Me alegro de que están disfrutando de la historia. Bamon FTW :)**

**Alexis! Girly! You have to tell me your account user name on here and start reviewing on it…so I can send you sneak peeks :) And if you ever did decide to write something, I'd LOVE to read it. Thanks for the lovely review. You always make me smile.**

**Nancy: Thank you :)**

**Princess88: Thanks! :)**

**BabyA: I'm glad to be back :) Thanks for the comment.**

**Lalala: Will do :) Thank you**

**Salvatoregirl: Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying the story :)**

* * *

Bonnie's POV

Luckily, I didn't have to talk to Damon at all in the morning.

Instead, I was woken up by Katherine, who had snapped at to get dressed. Drina wanted to have breakfast with all three of us this morning.

I knew it wasn't really good to feel at ease around the vampire queen, but after what happened last night, she was better than Damon.

I shivered a little as I tried to force the memories away.

I still couldn't believe that it had actually happened. That…that Damon had bitten me, and then somehow made me drink his blood.

I had exchanged blood with a vampire.

It was something that was wildly looked down upon back home….something considered sinful and wrong.

And the worst part was that deep down; a part of me had enjoyed it.

Not wanting to think about it anymore, I quickly got dressed and went downstairs.

A few minutes later Meredith, Elena, and I all three found ourselves in the dining hall, and the large room was eerily empty.

Aside from us, the only people in the room at the moment were us, Katherine, and two guards armed with stakes.

Katherine was pacing up and down the room, obviously impatient, but trying hard not to show it.

"Do you know when the queen plans on arriving?"

Her question to the guards had an overall respectful tone, but I could hear a twinge of frustration in it.

"I'm here", a light voice said, and everyone in the room turned towards the end of the room.

Queen Drina had walked through the doorway, her long hair almost reaching the floor as she let it fall freely.

Katherine nodded, and after motioning at the guards to follow her, she went out the door.

Now it was just us and Drina.

"Well, sit down", she said gently as she took her own seat, as if she was curious about why we were standing up in the first place.

Meredith was the first to sit down, gracefully and calmly, and I clambered down into a seat beside her.

Elena hesitated at first, but when Meredith shot her an aggravated look, she slowly sat down on Meredith's left side.

Drina smiled pleasantly, and picked herself up a plate for herself, placing two pancakes with syrup on it, gesturing at us to do the same.

Once we all three had our plates of breakfast set, I took a bite of one of the pancakes, and like every other food I have had here, it was delicious.

"So, I'm sore Bonnie has already told you a little about my background", Drina said, addressing Meredith and Elena.

Meredith nodded. "We know that you're a…witch."

"Yes", Drina said flatly, taking another delicate bite of her pancake. "But I'm sure none of you knew that I am from your clan."

All three of us froze up at that.

"Then…how did you end up here?" I asked slowly. Had she'd been taken from the clan before becoming a vampire? Had she'd been forced to marry King Christian, and then later turned by him?

And if this was true, was that our fate? To be turned into vampires ourselves once we married our assigned ones?

"I came here willingly", Drina said casually, breaking me out of my brief panic.

Elena wrinkled her nose a little, obviously trying to hide her disapproval of why any sane witch would want to come here willingly. "Why?"

"That, my dears, is a long story that you will just have to wait to hear told", Drina answered.

Her voice still had that light and kind tone to it, but there was also a warning tone…as if making it clear that it was a subject not to be talked about.

Elena looked like she wanted to press the subject for a moment, but eventually dropped it when Meredith nudged her lightly in the shoulder.

"The reason I wanted to talk to you girls is because I wanted to ask a favor", the vampire queen said softly. "Having been turned so long ago…I've lost my touch with magic. I was wondering if you girls would be interested in giving me…lessons."

Meredith arched a brow. "You can still use magic after being turned?"

Drina nodded. "Becoming a vampire doesn't make you lose your powers. But….it's been so long since I've performed magic, that I'm ashamed to admit that I've forgotten it."

She glanced at all three of us. "I was hoping you girls could help me reawaken it."

_As if we really had a choice._

Though she did ask us in a way a person asks a innocent question, she could just make us do it if we refused anyway.

"We'll do it", Meredith said finally, and Elena and I reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Do you guys think this will be safe?" I whispered, as we all three walked through the hallways of the castle.

Elena frowned. "What do you mean?"

"She's the vampire queen. Don't…don't you think she could be dangerous?"

"I don't think she'd do anything to us", Meredith said confidentially. "I'm sure that we can all feel from her aura that she is a witch….or at least she used to be. And well, we all know the rules from our clan."

A witch never harms another witch…no matter the circumstance.

"But Drina isn't exactly a witch anymore Meredith", Elena said. "Maybe Bonnie has a point."

"Even so, there's really not much we can do. She's the queen." Meredith looked down slightly. "Besides, I'm already breaking the rules enough as it is."

My eyes widened. "Breaking the rules?"

Meredith nodded, and quickly looked around in case anyone was listening in on us, and when none of us saw anyone, she turned back towards us, dropping her voice to a whisper.

"I found a way to put a stop to their mission."

"What is it?" I asked, whispering.

"A potion. But the only thing it….if we take it, it will make us permanently infertile."

"We'll never be able to have kids again?" Elena cut in.

Meredith rolled her eyes. "Yes, that's what permanently infertile means Elena." She gave us both a serious look. "The effects of the potion are serious. I don't want neither of you to take it unless you're completely sure it's worth it."

There was a moment of silence.

Elena was the one who answered first. "Well I still want to take it. I'd sacrifice the ability to have children if it means avoiding being impregnated by a vampire."

Meredith nodded at her, and then turned towards me.

"I'll take it too", I answered softly. "It's worth it."

Only earlier yesterday, I might have considered not taking it. But not now. After the way Damon treated me last night, there was no way.

I had to hold back a small amount of tears as I thought about it. I had almost just gotten done telling him how I thought of him as my friend…and I meant it.

Somewhere during the last few days we spent together, I was really starting to think of him as my friend.

And then only a few hours later, he had pinned me against the wall, and took my blood by force. He hadn't been rough about it, but it was still force all the same.

And it hurt. More than I would admit to him out load.

It once again proved to me that he obviously never thought of me as a friend. Just his property.

"Bonnie, are you okay?" Meredith asked suddenly, concern in her eyes.

I shook myself out of my thoughts. "I'm fine."

"You are not. You looked like you were almost on the brick of tears. What's wrong?"

"I'll tell you guys later", I said, my voice coming out in a little bit of plea for them to just drop it.

And thankfully, they did.

"Before we separate, there is something else that I need to tell you two", Meredith said, raising the volume of her voice a fraction. "Sage….he's a vampire and witch hybrid."

Elena's blue eyes widened. "How do you know?"

"He told me. It's the reason why he's been so interested in my magic. It's…a part of him."

"Can he perform magic?" I asked.

Meredith shook her head. "He has the ability to, but he has no knowledge of it. He actually asked me to teach him some things."

"Are you going to do it?"

She nodded again. "It might distract him from me working on the potion."

I thought I heard her voice crack a little at that sentence, and it was a very un-Meredith like thing to do.

Maybe it was time someone asked HER if she was okay.

But before either Elena or I could do that, we were interrupted by a voice.

"All three of you need to get back to your quarters."

The voice was flat, emotionless, and achingly familiar….

Damon

Both Elena and I jumped up on instinct, but Meredith stayed glued to the ground, her normally calm expression etched across her face as she turned to address Damon.

"We were just heading to them now."

Damon nodded, and then beckoned at me. "Come on Bonnie."

Reluctantly, I did what he said; a little fearful of what he might do if I didn't automatically listen to him.

"Bye guys", I said to my friends, before following Damon to the quarters.

Once we got there, he opened the door for me, and I walked inside, stepping into the large pent-house like area as he shut the door behind us.

I didn't say anything to him as we walked further into the building. All I wanted to do was go upstairs to my bedroom and get away from him.

But just as I was about to do just that, he stopped me.

"Redbird, wait. We need to talk."

I sniffled, still keeping myself turned away from him. "I have nothing to say to you."

"I have things I want to say to you", he said stubbornly. "Now come here."

I let out a little sigh, and obediently turned towards him.

Damon's gaze remained flat and expressionless.

"I don't understand why you are so upset."

My eyes widened in shock. How could he not understand…

"Damon….you….you took my blood by force, and then somehow made me take yours. It scared me."

To my horror, my voice cracked a little as I said the words. I hadn't wanted to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he hurt me.

Damon's dark eyes softened for a moment. "I don't want you to be afraid of me."

Then a silence came across the room before he shook his head, as if realizing he had said too much as his eyes went flat again.

"Bonnie, the blood bond needed to be done. I have to protect you from Klaus."

I'd already known that before. Before he had done it, he'd told me that the only reason he was doing it was to be closer to me and make it easier to protect me.

But it was the way he had done it. Pinned me up against a wall, and ignoring my pleas. That's what hurt me the most.

But to my surprise, I could feel regret washing over Damon in waves, though his eyes remained unreadable.

I frowned at little at that. How was I suddenly able to….feel his emotions?

"Wh...why?"

I thought I said the words only to myself, but somehow, they came out verbally.

Damon frowned. "Why what?"

I shook my head slowly and then wordlessly turned to head back upstairs, ignoring Damon's snaps at me for once.

But just as I was about to run into her bedroom, the weirdest thing happened.

_You can't run away from me redbird._

I heard Damon's voice in my head.

* * *

Meredith: 3rd person POV

After the run in with Damon, Meredith had done what he said and headed towards Sage's quarters.

When she got there, she found the hybrid slumped in one of the armchairs, staring into the spell book.

"Hey", she said softly as she approached him.

He turned to look at her at the sound of her voice, a small smile spreading across his face.

"_Bonjour_ Meredith."

She gave a small smile back, but it only lasted a second, and it quickly disappeared as she sat down in the armchair next to him.

"Listen Sage…I hope you don't mind that I told Bonnie and Elena what you are."

Sage shook his head. "It's fine. You were the only one that I really wanted to keep the secret from anyway."

Meredith frowned. "Why didn't you want me to know?"

He shrugged. "I know how much you and your friends dislike vampires. I didn't want you to become more wary with me by finding out that I'm a product of the mating between one of your kind and ours."

_Well, you probably really don't want me to tell you that I know about the mission._

But she pushed her thoughts aside, and nodded at him, showing that she understood.

"Can I ask a question?"

When he nodded, she continued.

"Who are your parents?"

He paused, not saying a word.

"Sage…"

He waved her off. "It's okay Meredith. I'll tell you." He sighed. "But you have to promise to not judge me for it."

"I promise."

"King Christian and Queen Drina are my parents."

She hadn't expected that…

But she managed to hide the fact that she was shocked, keeping it under wraps as she continued speaking.

"Drina had you before she was turned?"

Sage only seemed a little surprised at her calm reaction to what he said as he answered.

"Yes. My mother came over from the witch clan to marry my father. And a few months after I was born, he turned her."

Meredith wanted to ask him if he was the first "mission" that the vampires experimented, but she couldn't let him know that she knew about it.

"So….how old are you?"

He smiled in amusement. "Physically, I am twenty-two. But I've been alive for over two hundred years. It's been so long that I don't know the exact number….I stopped counting."

Meredith's eyes widened. "Doesn't that get boring….living so long?"

He gave her a sly grin.

"Not if you search for exciting things to do."

She smiled back at him before moving on to a more lighthearted topic.

"Speaking of that, are you ready to begin your first magic lesson?"

"Ready as ever."

Meredith nodded, and took the book from him, flipping through it for a simple spell to teach him.

She had ended up teaching him a levitating, using a pencil for the lesson.

He'd learned quickly and well. All she had to do was show him an example a few times, and he had the pencil floating ten feet into the air.

He was a natural.

And afterwards, she went upstairs to her bedroom to work more on the potion, trying to clear her guilty conscience.

* * *

Elena: 3rd Person POV

That evening, for the first time, Elena sat out in the lobby of the quarters with Stefan.

For a little while, neither of them said anything, and simply stared off into the fire, but the fact that she was out there with him, and not locked up into her room was a big improvement.

"Are you and Damon really brothers?" Elena asked, finally breaking the silence.

After he got over the initial surprise at hearing her voice, Stefan chuckled.

"Yes. What else would we be?"

"I don't know. I just thought that maybe you only called yourselves brothers out of a business position or something."

Stefan shook his head. "Nope, we're brothers. Same blood and all." He let out a sigh. "But we are definitely different."

Elena frowned. "Different?"

"Damon….he's different", Stefan answered. "I'm sure you've heard about him back at your clan."

She had. Whenever new information about the war was brought to them back home, Damon was almost always mentioned. He was said to be one of the most dangerous killers from the vampire side.

She nodded, deciding to finally get to her point.

"Do you think that….he would hurt Bonnie?"

His green eyes flashed. "Why do you ask?"

"Bonnie was acting….kind of weird when we were talking to her earlier. I think something might be wrong."

"I'll ask Damon about it later if you want", Stefan said. "But Elena…I honestly don't think Damon would purposely hurt her. He's fond of her."

"I don't trust him", Elena snapped.

Stefan held up both of his hands in a sign of surrender. "And you have no reason to. Like I said, I'll question him about it later."

Elena nodded. "Thank you."

Stefan smiled. "You're welcome. And I think you might be losing your touch. So far, you've sat with me, came to me for help, and thanked me all in one day."

She rolled her eyes, but a small smile could be seen on her lips.

"Don't get used to it."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

* * *

Bonnie's POV

I had just heard Damon's voice in my head. Literally.

I wasn't surprised when Damon wrenched open the door, an icy glare on his face.

"Redbird, I thought I told you…"

"Why did I hear your voice in my head? And…and why can I feel your emotions?" I interrupted.

He didn't say anything at first, and I assumed it was because he was trying to decide whether or not to tell me.

Finally, he did.

"It's part of the blood bond."

I sniffled. I knew I was probably overreacting to all of this, but I was still shaken up by the suddenness and weirdness of it.

"So it's permanent?"

He nodded. "And it's the same on my side," He frowned. "For example, right now you are feeling very confused and startled."

He was right. But then again, I wasn't as good about hiding my emotions as he was.

"Am I right?"

I nodded, and then gave a little yelp as I realized something.

"Wait…does that…does that mean that you can read my mind?"

Damon smirked. "Only if you let me."

I was confused. "What do you mean let you?"

"I can only read your mind if you aren't blocking your thoughts", he explained, stepping a little closer. "Right now, you're blocking me."

"But I'm not trying to…"

"You're doing it on instinct. Which tells me that you are either nervous about me reading your mind, or that you're hiding something from me. To unblock your mind, you have to relax."

I nodded, a little relieved that I could block my mind from him, but didn't let my guard down.

"I have one more question."

He held up a finger to stop me.

"For the answer to the question, you have to agree to continue our little game. Afterwards, you'll have to answer one of mine."

I reluctantly nodded. "Um…okay."

"What's your question?"

"I wanted to know…since….since you can talk into my mind, can I do the same to you?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"How do I do it?"

He reached over to gently brush a curl that had fallen in front of my left eye out of the way, and I was so focused on our conversation that I barely noticed it.

"Just focus on thoughts of me, and whatever you want to tell me. Really concentrate on it. The blood bond should do the rest."

I nodded, and closed my eyes, figuring that would help me concentrate better.

I did what Damon had told me to do, and thought really hard on him, and what I wanted him to hear from me.

_Hi Damon_

_Hello redbird_

A smiled a little at hearing his reply in my head as I opened my eyes. "It worked."

And that was when I felt his cool lips brush across my forehead, and my sense finally kicked in.

I quickly backed away from him. "Thanks for the uh….lesson Damon. But could I have some alone time now?"

He frowned. "You're still upset."

All I did was nod.

He sighed. "Redbird…It was necessary."

"But was it necessary to do it the way you did? Pin me up against a wall? You didn't even try to make me feel comfortable and….it really scared me Damon", I admitted.

Damon didn't say anything, and in a flash, he was back in my doorway and away from me.

"I'm sorry that it scared you. And…I admit that I could have done differently. But I'm not sorry for doing it. It had to be done."

He gave a smirk. "Oh, and about what you said about me making you take my blood? I didn't have anything to do with that. You did that all on your own."

And with one last wink in my direction, he was gone, my door shut, leaving me along to my thoughts.

* * *

**A/N: This chapter was a little shorter than the last one and I apologize. But I hope the little Bamon fluffiness made up for it a little :) (BTW, I actually wasn't originally planning on that kiss on the forehead. I was just typing, and suddenly, it was there xD)**

**Review for a sneak peek! **


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

**A/N: By popular demand, this story was the first I decided to finally update. Sorry if some of you didn't get any sneak peeks this time. See, it's been so long since I updated that I figured you guys would rather I spent my time working on the update rather than PMing sneak peeks (and, I kind of lost track of who I already PM'd and who I haven't XD) So I apologize for that. But the sneak peek system AND the anonymous reviews response will be back on track on the next update. I hope you guys like this :)**

Bonnie's POV

_I was standing in a room filled with people staring back at me. Music was playing, coming from a piano somewhere, by the sounds of it, and everyone was dressed elegantly._

_Startled and confused, I whirled around, gasping in relief when I finally spotted Elena and Meredith, standing a few feet from me, wearing elegant dresses of their own, and smiling widely._

"_Elena! Meredith!" I exclaimed, as I quickly walked closer to them. "Wh…what's going on?"_

_They both gave me questioning looks. _

"_Bonnie", Meredith started logically and gently. "It's your wedding day. Don't you remember?"_

_At her words, I slowly looked down at myself, and nearly jumped a little in shock when I discovered what I was wearing._

_It was a short, though beautiful white dress. On my wrists, white satin cuffs were wrapped around my wrists, making me look paler then I normally did. But it was still beautiful, all the same. _

_But what stood out the most was the diamond ring with a gold band that rested on her ring finger._

_I looked up at my two best friends in panic. "But…but it's only been a few weeks! We're not supposed to be getting married this soon!"_

_Elena grinned. "You two were so in love that you decided to shorten the wait. Now get over there Bon, your groom is waiting for you."_

_None of this was right. The wedding wasn't supposed to be taking place this soon. Damon and I were NOT in love, and Meredith and Elena certainly weren't supposed to be…happy for me._

_At Elena's order, I turned around, and flushed a little at the sight before me._

_Damon stood, looking gorgeous as usual, decked out in a tux, and he smiled his charming smile as he held out his hand for mine._

_Robotically, and against my will, I accepted his hand, and he gently pulled me over to stand next to him, and in my sight, was Queen Drina, her head bent over a paper as she read from it._

"_Damon Salvatore, do you take Bonnie McCullough as your lawfully wedded wife?"_

"_I do", Damon answered, and his voice smooth as silk, but he smiled adoringly at me after answered, causing a light flush to come over my cheeks._

_But I tugged at his sleeve, panicked about my turn coming up._

"_Damon! Why is the wedding taking place so soon? I…I don't know if I'm ready."_

_Damon smiled gently, pulling me closer._

"_We've always been ready mia bella uccellino rosso. _We are meant for each other."

_His words held so much emotion and determination as he said this that I couldn't help but mentally swoon._

_He slowly lowered his lips to my ear, whispering into it, quietly, so that I would be the only one to hear._

"_I love you."_

_All at once, after those three simple words, feelings of determination, peacefulness, and love for him washed over me. Not even thinking about what I was doing or saying, I stood up on my tip tones to plant a kiss on his jaw. "I love you too."_

_There was no doubt in my mind anymore. Damon loves me. And I love him. He was right; we were meant for each other, and ready for this._

"_Bonnie McCullough, do you take Damon Salvatore as your lawfully wedded husband?"_

"_I do", I answer immediately, and without a doubt in my mind._

"_Ladies and gentleman, I now present to you Mr. and Mrs. Salvatore!"_

_I was a little aware of the loud cheering erupting from the crowd watching, but my attention was quickly focused elsewhere when Damon pressed his cool lips against mine._

_I kissed him back, reaching up a little run my hands through his raven hair, my heart swelling with so much love that I was sure it would burst._

_When we broke apart, he still held me close, whispering in my ear again._

"_Redbird?"_

"_Yes?" _

"_Redbird!"_

"_What Damon?"_

"_REDBIRD!"_

I woke up suddenly to Damon gently shaking me, and through my hazy vision, I could see a slightly concerned expression etched across his handsome face.

It was all a dream. Of course it was…

"What?" I asked timidly, a small blush on my cheeks. For some reason, I found myself a little embarrassed about the dream I had just had…and I prayed that he didn't somehow know anything about it.

He gave a low chuckle, obviously amused at my awkwardness. "You've slept in late. I let you rest for a while, but when I tried to wake up, you wouldn't."

I frown a little as I rub my eyes. "I didn't?"

"No. Not until now anyway."

I silently examined his face for a moment, and tried to hide my relief when I saw no suspicion, or a knowing smirk or smile on his face….indicating that he had no idea what I just dreamed.

All that could be shown was a faint look of concern.

"I'm fine Damon", I said reassuringly, as I slowly sat up. "I guess I'm just…a heavy sleeper?"

I mentally slapped myself when it came out sounding more like a question then an answer.

Luckily, Damon didn't seem to notice anything…or at least, he wasn't showing that he did, and simply nodded, standing back up. "I have a small meeting to attend, but I should be back shortly. In the mean time, I've prepared some breakfast for you downstairs."

"Oh", I say, surprised. "Well…thank you."

"You're welcome."

With that, Damon, without another word, left the room, gently shutting the door behind me, leaving me alone in the room.

After sitting their taking in what happened for a few more minutes, I got out of bed, and went to head downstairs to see what breakfast Damon had made for me.

That was new for him. Normally, I had breakfast in the meeting hall with Elena and Meredith. This was the first time Damon had ever made me breakfast in the quarters.

I shake my head to myself as I climb down the stairs. It was probably only because he had a meeting to go to, and wouldn't be able to escort me to the meeting hall. It most likely didn't mean anything.

When I reached the kitchen, I gasped a little at the sight before me.

On the table was a huge plate of food, piled with five pancakes, scrambled eggs, and five slices of bacon.

It looked delicious, but a bit much. I hope he wouldn't be angry if I ended up not eating it all….I never ate that much.

But every worry of not finishing it all completely vanished when I sat down and took my first bite of the pancake.

It was…beyond delicious. Of course, most of the food that I've had here has all been good, but this was even better.

I didn't know what Damon could have done to the pancakes to make them taste so much better than others, but he had definitely succeeded.

After finishing eating (and, to my surprise, I actually DID almost finish it completely), I headed back upstairs to my bedroom, opening the door that led to my bathroom.

On my fist night staying in the quarters, I had been surprised when I discovered the bathroom. Most of the castle seemed so medieval, so something as modern as a bathroom was strange to see in it. But I figured even vampires must care some-what about hygiene too, with how good they always looked.

After brushing my teeth, I decided to take a nice shower. My hair definitely needed it, and a warm shower just sounded…nice. And it would give me some time to really think.

I sighed in content as the warm water began to hit my skin

Unfortunately, the dream I had just has managed to creep back into my head again.

It wouldn't have been as bad if I had simply dreamed about the wedding, but it wasn't just that.

In the dream, I had really felt in love with Damon for a short time, and it didn't make any sense. I DIDN'T love Damon. I knew that for sure. I cared about him a little, but at other times, he frightened me. There wasn't any love between us. So why would I have a dream like that? A dream that was so…overwhelming? It didn't make any sense.

Could it be because of the blood bond? After all, Damon had said something about it bringing us closer mentally.

But then, there was also what Damon had said last night. The words that had managed to stay stuck in my head all night until I fell asleep.

_"Oh, and about what you said about me making you take my blood? I didn't have anything to do with that. You did that all on your own."_

Was he…right? I had I really, by some strange circumstance, taken Damon's blood on my own? When it had first happened, I was sure that he had compelled me to take it, or done SOMETHING. He could have been lying, of course, but the smug look on his face as he said it hadn't looked fake.

I sighed as I leaned against the shower wall.

This was too confusing. I needed to tell someone about this to sort out my thoughts. I couldn't do it on my own.

**Meredith**

"So that's my story", Meredith finished quietly, as she sat in an armchair next to Sage.

That morning, Sage had asked her to tell him a bit more about herself when they had both finally been up.

"_Mon Cherie, I would like to know more about the raven-haired witch that has captured my interest", _he'd told her with a charming smile on his face, one that was ALMOST enough to make the normally heavy-guarded witch blush. Almost.

So she had. And she had actually ended up telling him FAR more then she had originally planned too. She couldn't help it. Sage was a good listener, and she had, in a way, ended up ranting a little.

She told him about her life back with the witch clan, about how she always got good grades in her classes, because per parents always expected the ultimate best from her. She told him about Elena and Bonnie, and, as much as she loved them, how they tended to rely on others a bit too much. She told him about how she had never really shown romantic interest in a guy before, usually too far focused on more important things. And, she told him about her old hopes for the future.

Of course, those hopes would be history now. Her future had now been completely planned out for her.

Sage smiled at her as she finished speaking, and nodded. "You are quite a unique individual, Meredith. I find myself for intrigued by you as the days go by."

She could tell that he meant it. And even though she could definitely hear the hint of flirtation in his voice, she, for some reason, didn't seem to mind it. In fact, on impulse, she even found herself smiling slyly back.

"You are plenty interesting yourself, Sage. In fact, it's only fair that I get to know more a bit about you, after telling you more about myself."

Sage nodded in agreement, his golden eyes flashing in amusement. "What would you like to know?"

Meredith closed her eyes for a moment, wondering if she should ask this. She didn't want to upset him in any way.

"I was wondering…about how your parents met?"

There was a silence, and not able to really read his expression for once, she quickly added.  
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I was just…curious. You mother told me that she originally came from our clan before she became a vampire."

Sage shook a hand at her, with a small laugh. "No, you've done nothing wrong. I'll tell you. You just surprised me."

Meredith nodded. "Thank you."

Sage smiled at her, before settling down further into his armchair, closing his eyes.

"My mother was one of the ones that fought in the ageless war against the vampires. She was a fierce warrior, admired and respected by the other witches and warlocks, and feared among the vampires. Because of her efforts, the witches and warlocks won some of the most important and famous battles of the war in that time."

At the back of her mind, Meredith wondered why she hadn't heard of Drina before all of this. If she had been such a hero during her days in the clan, why hadn't she been brought up before in a history lesson? Or at least mentioned before by her parents or the elders?

"One day, however, she was injured in a fight after taking down three of our kind. She told the other young witch that was with her to run when she heard more of them coming. She figured she would die from her injuries anyway. Reluctantly, the young witch obeyed her and ran, leaving my mother near death on the ground as another vampire approached her."

Sage smiled a little as he said his next words. "The vampire that found her was my father. Prince Christian. He was still young in the war antics, and still had a shred of sympathy in him for the witches. He took and hid my mother in a secret hiding place he had in the mountains, where he slowly brought her back to health. He saved her life."

This had Meredith surprised. King Christian…that same king that now regarded her, Elena, and Bonnie with such a cold stare had once saved the life of a witch?

"And they fell in love?" Meredith asked slowly.

Sage nodded. "Eventually, yes. During that time they were hiding together in the mountains, my mother fell deeply in love with my father. She even got to a point where she pretended to still be more hurt then she actually was, fearful that once she recovered, they would never see each other again."

"She did confess to him her feelings at some point, and was happily surprised when he told her that he returned her feelings. But they still had obstacles to overcome."

Meredith frowned. "What obstacles?"

Sage smiled sadly. "The war was still raging on. The hate between the vampires and the witches was as strong as ever. Both my mother and my father knew that their people would never allow them to be together."

"So what did they do?"

"My mother asked my father to turn her."

Meredith froze. Such a huge step to take. Based on the story, Drina had hated vampires just as much as she, Elena, and Bonnie did before she had met Christian. Perhaps even more. But she had really grown to love Christian enough to turn into a vampire, and turn her back on her life with the clan to be with him?

"Did he do it?"

Sage nodded. "After he was sure it was what she wanted, yes. But just as they were getting ready to go through with it, they discovered something that stopped them. My mother…was pregnant."

He looked into the fire. "People have always believed it to be impossible….a witch carrying the child of a vampire, but it was. I was the first."

"After they found out my mother was pregnant, my father had no choice but to take her back to the castle, where he pleaded with the other officials to help her. She'd ended up having me just fine, and afterwards, my father changed her."

"Did the clan ever find out what happened to her?"

"Yes. And…she was banished from the clan, told never to return."

She could see why. In the clan's eyes, Drina had betrayed them by siding with the vampires. But still, for some reason, it left a sad feeling in the pit of Meredith's subconscious.

"Is that why I've never heard of her back home?"

Sage nodded. "They basically disowned her. They wiped any record of her in all of their recordings off the battle, and any documentation they had. They made it so it was like she was never from the clan."

When she had first asked Sage this question, Meredith had expected to hear a story that was similar to the situation she, Elena, and Meredith were in now. A story of Drina being forced to marry Christian, and have his child. But it had turned out to be far different."

"So Drina and Christian really are in love", she slowly stated, not fully realizing she was speaking out load.

Sage smiled. "Yes. They have issues. My mother doesn't like how cold-hearted the war has made my father, but I know they still love each other. And they always will."

"Thank you Sage…for telling me."

"It was no trouble Meredith."

Meredith was so lost in her thoughts, that she barely registered the fact that he was leaning closer to her, and when she did, she didn't seem to really mind.

She finally felt the brush of his lips against hers, and, her heart seeming to have complete control over her mind for once, she kissed back.

**Stefan**

After the meeting, Stefan decided that now would be the right time to finally approach Damon.

He wanted to keep his promise to Elena about finding out more about the Damon and Bonnie situation. He knew that his brother had a soft spot for the little redheaded witch, but he was finally gaining Elena's trust. He didn't want to jeopardize it.

And besides, it couldn't hurt to check up on it. Damon may have a soft spot for Bonnie, but he could also be very unpredictable.

"Damon? Can I have a word with you?" He asked, as the meeting room slowly emptied as everyone filed out.

It was a short meeting, not very important. It was mainly about a small issue that had come up with the witch clan. Apparently, it was on the matter of what to do with the war prisoners now that the war was finally over. A longer, more detailed meeting would be held for it next week.

Damon rolled his eyes but nodded, and as soon as the room had cleared out, he turned towards his younger brother.

"What do you want, little brother?"

Stefan sighed. "Have….you done anything recently to Bonnie? Something that might have upset her?"

The silence that followed answered his question, and het let out another frustrated sigh.

"What did you do Damon?"

The older brother, in retaliation, glared. "That's none of your concern."

"Maybe it isn't. But maybe if you told me, I could help you fix the mess you've created by doing it."

"First of all, I can handle things just fine on my own. Second, there is no mess. Now if you're done, I'd like to get back to my quarters."

His voice was icy and cold and Stefan could tell that his brother was close to losing his patience. But he kept going.

"No mess? Damon, I know that you have a soft spot for Bonnie. There has to be a reason you picked her yourself, after all. Do you really like the idea of her being scared of you?"

This seemed to hold him off from arguing for a moment, but soon enough, he was putting up his walls again.

"The witch isn't frightened of me. And I'm sure I would know if that were the case."

Stefan rolled his eyes. He couldn't help it. "She flinches a little whenever you come to the room, and when you're giving her orders in public, she does whatever you say, quickly and without a word….like she's afraid you'll do something to her if it isn't done automatically. She may not be deathly afraid of you, but you definitely make her nervous. Even I can see that."

When Damon didn't say anything, he continued. "If you're so sure that whatever you did hasn't frightened her, then you shouldn't have a problem admitting to me what you did."

Damon let out a low growl. "Klaus is after her. So I made her form a blood bond with me. Happy?"

Another silence issued.

"Well, how did you do it?"

"_What?"_

"How did you 'make her' form the bond with you? Did you compel her?"

For the first time since this conversation started, Damon actually seemed a little hesitant about speaking.

"No. I pinned her to the wall. I didn't harm her, but I did do it in a way that she couldn't resist it."

And there lied the problem….

"Damon, if you want Bonnie to not be afraid of you, you can't…you can't do things like that. You need to show Bonnie that you see her as a person….not just a piece of property."

"I already apologized to her."

"What did you say, exactly?"

"I told her that I saw sorry that it frightened her, but at the same time, I didn't regret doing it. Which WAS the truth."

Stefan had to literally stop himself from slapping his own forehead in frustration.

"And you couldn't have possibly left out the 'I don't regret it' part?"

"The relationship between me and _my _witch is none of your concern. Besides", he said frowning in an almost suspicious way, "I don't see why _you_ should care."

"Elena told me she was worried about Bonnie. That's the difference between you and me, Damon. I actually care about my fiancé's feelings."

Damon had a slightly smug smile on his face, seeming completely unaffected by the insult.

"Are you actually _falling_ for your witch, brother?"

The question caught him off guard, and if Stefan was being honest with himself, he himself didn't even quite know the answer to it. He knew that he and Elena were getting along better, but his feelings for her were still a bit of a mess. He didn't mind the idea of falling for her, though.

"You're one to talk brother. I'm not the one who was completely silent during the meeting this morning. A little upset that Bonnie has been so distant from you lately?"

Before his brother could respond, Stefan headed out the door, turning around to glance at Damon to say one more thing.

"If I were you, I would find a way to fix things with Bonnie."

**Bonnie's POV**

"Well, it sounds like you're attracted to him at least", Elena said, as we both sat on the garden bench.

I had just finished telling her about the dream I had last night. I had to tell SOMEONE, because it was going to make me burst keeping it all to myself.

I gaped at her. "Out of all people, I would never have expected _Elena_, the one who hated vampires the most out of the three of us, to ever come to that conclusion.

"But…but HOW could I be attracted to him Elena? He's….he's a vampire. And he scares me most of the time."

"Even I can admit that he's physically attractive Bonnie. And", she paused, almost as if he was reluctant to say her next words, "He actually isn't all bad. I think, deep down, he cares about you. Whenever we go to the meetings with the vampires, he always has this intense look about him when he looks at you. And he tends to keep you close, like he'd take down anyone who'd try to touch you."

Her words suddenly brought back the memory of that first night we met Drina at the dinner meeting, when Klaus had tried to bite me: When Damon had saved me.

Was she right? Could I…be attracted to Damon?

I knew that I had begun to like him…at least before the blood bond incident anyway. And I had cared about him.

I looked down as realization hit me. It was probably true. But that didn't mean I was going to act on it anytime soon. I was still mad at him.

"Does that make me an awful person?" I asked, as I finally looked back at Elena.

Elena let out a short, unexpected laugh. "Honestly Bonnie? When we first got here, I would have been the first to try to slap some sense into you. But now…"

She then to the time to look down at the ground herself. "I'm realizing that they're not so bad…vampires. I mean, I still know some of them are awful, but they're a bit like us in that form. Not all witches are good either." She looked back up at me. "Stefan has been nothing but kind to me the moment I got here, while I've made things difficult for him. And…he saved me that day when we both suffered energy loss from not using our magic. A small part of me wants to give him a chance."

When I didn't say anything, she smiled and gave my hand a squeeze. "So it would be hypocritical of me if I judged you for being attracted to Damon."

She seemed to have forgotten that me being attracted to Damon was a lot worse than her beginning to like Stefan a little. Stefan wasn't the infamous one known for viciously killing our kind during the war. But I decided not to bring that up.

I gave her a smile back. "Thanks Elena."

Elena cleared her throat after a moment. "Now come on. The meeting is probably over by now. They would want us all back at the quarters."

I nodded, and got up. And after re-entering the castle, we went our separate ways.

* * *

Damon was there when I got back to the quarters, and I froze, wondering if he would be mad that I left it without permission.

"I'm sorry! I was just out in the gardens with…."

He quickly waved me off. "The castle is your home now. You should be free to go wherever you wish."

His answer surprised me, and I let out a small smile. "Thank you. By the way, how was the…."

"We need to talk", he said, cutting me off again.

"Um…okay", I said quietly, taking a seat on the chair next to his when he gestured for me to do so. "What do you want to talk about?"

He was silent for a moment, and just as I was about to say something else, he spoke.

"You're still upset about the blood bond."

It wasn't a question, but a statement.

"A little", I admitted, and then sighed. "I know now that you only did it to protect me, but…but I just feel like you were mainly doing it for your own gain. Like…you didn't care about how I felt about it."

I was genuinely surprised at myself for saying what I did. It was a little bold, considering who I was talking to.

"I'm sorry."

The words shocked me beyond belief, and I was a little hesitant to believe that he had actually said them.

"Wh…what?"

"Let me finish first. I do not wish you to believe that you mean nothing to me. There _is _a reason I hand-picked you as my bride, you know." He said this with an obvious flirty tone that was enough to make me blush. "I know I haven't exactly done an exceptional job at showing it, but you do matter to me. And…I assume I can try a bit harder to show it to you."

I could tell he meant it. Though there was still a flirty tone in his voice, I could tell it was sincere, and it made me smile a little.

"So am I forgiven?"

I nod, hiding my face a little to at least try to hide the raging blush on my cheeks.

"I forgive you."

**A/N: This was probably one of my favorite chapters to write so far, because I got to reveal SO much that I've been keeping to myself XD**

**So, onto the progress of our three couples!**

**Damon/Bonnie: I know I'm being a major tease with them, since it's been 12 chapters and there STILL hasn't been a Bamon kiss (well, a real one anyway), which, by the way, is a record for me! I just want to give them a steady build-up in this story. But I promise that I will not hold back on the romance when it finally does happen.**

**Stefan/Elena: These two, are also going at a snail's pace XD But Elena had admitted to liking Stefan a little, and Stefan doesn't mind the idea of falling for her, so that's something right?**

**Sage/Meredith: Now with these two, I'm actually a little afraid that I'm going to fast with them. But oh well, it's out there. They are the first of the three couples to kiss ;) However, that doesn't mean everything will be smooth sailing with them. Meredith is still kind of betraying him by making the potion, after all.**

**Review for a sneak peek! I promise you WILL get it this time :)**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

**Anonymous review responses:**

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**Guest: Bamon will fall in love eventually (and they're actually in the beginning stages of it now) and when they do, I won't hold back on the romance. Thanks for commenting :)**

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**EvaMedina: The kiss will come…eventually. You just have to be patient ;) Thanks for reviewing :)**

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

Things between Damon and I were finally starting to get better.

Ever since our conversation earlier, I've felt that our relationship was getting back on track. And we were regaining that small friendship we had before he had forced me to exchange blood with him.

_The only problem, _I thought to myself as I made my way down the hallway, _is that my mind is still clouded by what Elena said._

Elena thinks I have romantic feelings for Damon. And I had reluctantly agreed with her.

Even though I was ready to try to be friends with Damon again, the idea of actually falling for him terrified me.

Maybe it was because I had NEVER expected to actually gain feelings for the vampire that I was being forced to marry.

But…it couldn't be all that bad, could it?

I mean, I was going to end up having to marry him in the end anyway. Wouldn't it be better if I gained some sort of romantic feelings for him? Even if they were small?

That's why I was heading downstairs now…to go get a glass of water to clear my head a bit.

I was walking carefully and quietly, trying to be light on my feet, as to not wake up Damon.

But as I was passing by his room, I heard a sound that made me freeze in my tracks.

"Bonnie…"

It was Damon's voice….saying my name.

His voice sounded dreary, as if he was asleep, but I couldn't be sure.

Hesitantly, I walked closer to his bed chamber door, and knocked.

"Damon? Are you awake?"

There was no answer at first, and I turned to walk away.

"Bonnie…I love you."

This made me freeze again, and my eyes widened as I turned back towards the door.

Now that I heard it again, I could hear how drowsy his voice was. He was talking in his sleep.

And dreaming about me?

After another moment of hesitation, just standing outside of the door, my curiosity got the better of me and I quietly and slowly opened the bedroom door.

As I stepped inside, I had to hold back a gasp as I looked around the bedroom.

It was HUGE. It made mine look tiny, which was saying something.

Damon was fast asleep on the grand bed, seeming so deep in sleep that he didn't seem to sense me standing in the room.

"Bonnie…don't leave me."

If it wasn't for the fact that I was looking at him, I would have thought he was awake. His voice sounded clearer this time.

And…something about the way he said it and his current state made him look so vulnerable that I had to respond to him somehow.

I smiled softly to myself, and walked closer to the bed, so that I was standing right next to it.

"I won't", I whispered in response to his question, though I knew he was asleep and probably wouldn't hear it.

With that, I put my right hand on his arm, in an attempt to comfort, but it ended up being a mistake.

In response to my touch, Damon gently but firmly grabbed onto it in his sleep, pulling me closer to him.

Not knowing what else to do, I went along with it and let him draw me closer without fighting, but on the inside, my head was screaming.

What was I going to do? If I woke him, he would know that I had snuck into his room and ease-dropped onto his sleeping. But if I just let him hold onto me, I could….I could end up spending the night in here.

I was sure I was blushing at the thought, but the darkness of the room would keep Damon from seeing, even if he was awake.

For a few seconds, I stood there contemplating which scenario would be more embarrassing, and in the end, I decided to let him pull me into the bed with him.

I figured that this way, I had until morning to figure out a reason I was in his room. One that he would believe.

Once I was on the bed, Damon wrapped his arms around me, holding me to his chest.

I felt my cheeks heat up at the feel of his warm, tone body pressed up against mine, and I forced myself to cuddle into him further, using his arm as a pillow in order to be comfortable.

Now….how was I going to explain the fact that I was sleeping in his bed with him in the morning? I knew he wouldn't be mad about it. No, he would be unbelievable smug, which was almost worse. I could already see the smirk he would make in my mind, as he teased me.

One thing was for sure. If I didn't come up with a logical, believable reason for me sleeping here, I would never hear the end of it.

Breaking myself out of my thoughts, I suddenly realized that Damon had pulled me even closer, and was almost…cradling me. And to my surprise, I felt his hand softly, almost absentmindedly begin to stroke my hair.

Was….was he really awake?

Frowning, I tried to turn a little and look at his face, but he was holding me too tightly, and I was afraid that moving too much WOULD wake him up if he wasn't already.

So I just closed my eyes, and eventually, the soft motion of his fingers gently treading through my hair lulled me to sleep.

* * *

**Damon**

Damon smirked lightly as he watched the sleeping girl in his arms.

The sun had risen a few hours ago, so the little witch should be waking up any moment.

The dark vampire chucked to himself as he thought about what had happened the night before.

If the little witch had honestly believed him to be asleep the whole time last night, she was even more trusting then he initially believed.

The feeling of her stirring in his arms brought his attention back to her, and he flashed a flirtatious smile at her as she slowly opened her light brown eyes.

"Good morning sleeping beauty. Did you have a restful night?"

Like expected, a faint pink color tinted her cheeks as she slowly sat up in the bed, a panicked look instantly taking over her facial expression.

"Damon! Um…listen. I….I had a nightmare last night! And…I just didn't want to be alone. It wasn't because I…"

He waved her off, letting out another chuckle. "Relax Redbird. It's okay. I was awake for most of it. No need to explain yourself."

For a moment, the redheaded witch let out a sigh of relief, before quickly realizing what he meant.

"Wait…what do you mean you were awake?"

He smirked. "Redbird, did you honestly believe I was stroking your hair, and holding you all in my sleep?"

Her eyes flashed with mild annoyance. "You tricked me!"

He reached out to lightly stroke her cheek. "But if I recall, you didn't seem to have too much trouble falling asleep in my arms."

For a moment, the young witch almost looked like she was about to let out a giggle, and the vampire found himself having to resist the urge to kiss her right then. Her pink, full lips looked so inviting then, along with her flushed cheeks and the cute way her brown eyes were lit up with emotion.

But no. He couldn't do that. At least not yet. It might end up scaring her off again. He would have to continue to be patient and wait for her to come onto him first.

But instead of the giggle he had been expecting, Bonnie seemed to instantly compose herself again, and she sucked in a deep breath, obviously bracing herself for something.

"Damon…were you awake when you…when you said that you loved me?"

He frowned. "Pardon?"

She let out a small sigh. "The reason I came into your room in the first place, was because I heard you mumble in your sleep that you loved me. And I was wondering if…if you were actually awake for that part and just pretending."

Truthfully, he didn't have the slightest clue what she was talking about.

He frowned to himself as he thought back to last night. He did remember having some sort of dream about the little redheaded witch, but had he really mumbled in his sleep? And declarations of love, no less?

Bonnie was currently just staring at him, making it obvious that she was still waiting for a response to her question.

"No, I don't believe I was."

She tilted her head to the side, curious.

"Then…you were dreaming about me?"

With that, Damon suddenly got off the bed, standing up. "Enough talking. We need to head down to the commons soon to fetch you some breakfast. Why don't you take the time to freshen up, and I'll meet you downstairs?"

From her slightly impatient expression, he knew his redbird still wanted an answer. But before she could voice another one, he had already walked out of the room, and quickly headed downstairs.

* * *

**Elena**

Elena Gilbert sucked in a small breath in slight nervousness, and then finally made herself knock on the door.

Stefan answered in seconds, but his green eyes lit up in surprise at the sight of her standing outside his bed chamber.

"Good morning Elena. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Elena sighed. "Stefan, would you like to spend some time with me this morning?"

Normally, she didn't talk this proper. But she wasn't sure if flat out asking her future vampire husband out on a date the casual, teen way was appropriate.

His eyes widened. "What brought this on?"

"I think we should spend some time together. I mean…we ARE getting married." Her blue eyes narrowed a little in thought. "But if you don't want to…."

"No! No!" Stefan reassured, waving a hand lightly, and smiling at her. "I would love to. I'm just surprised, is all."

She nodded in understanding. "I also want to try to make up for….well, how rudely I treated you when I first arrived."

"You've already shown that you were sorry for that. But in all understanding, I know why you acted that way. And I can't say I blame you."

_My God. Can he EVER just accept an apology, and the fact that someone else is to blame?_

Stefan was obviously the type of person who didn't know how to hold grudges. Or, at least wasn't very good at holding them. And though it was definitely the complete opposite to her, it made her smile a little.

"Still, I would like to try to start over." She looked down at her feet, almost shyly. "So maybe soon? After I get ready?"

He nodded, still smiling, and his eyes still shining warmly. "I know just the place we can go."

Elena finally looked back up at him, and offered her own smile back. "I'm looking forward to it….Stefan."

She then held out her hand, and he looked down at it in obvious confusion. "Elena…."

"I said that I wanted to start over, remember?"Elena said, cutting him off. "So….I'm Elena Gilbert. It's good to meet you."

Comprehension instantly hitting him, Stefan reached out his own hand to shake hers. "Stefan Salvatore. It's a pleasure to meet you, Elena Gilbert."

* * *

**Meredith**

Meredith sighed as she looked down at the book in her hands.

She was currently hiding up in her bedroom, working on the potion….again, despite the conflicting thoughts she was having over the plan. And Sage, so trusting, so gracious, was simply allowing her to spend some time alone in her room, not expecting a thing.

Sage. At the thought of him, her mind immediately swam back to what had happened last night.

Sage had kissed her. And she had kissed him back.

Out of the three girls, Elena the impulsive one, and Bonnie the sweet, understanding one, it was _Meredith_, the logical, guarded one that was the first to actually kiss her vampire fiancé….as far as she knew anyway. She almost wanted to laugh to herself at the irony.

Right after it happened, they had parted, almost awkwardly, and just stood there for a few moments staring at each other, not saying a word. And then Meredith had merely asked him politely if she could go up to bed, and he had smiled, stating "Of course she could", and kissed her on the forehead as a goodnight gesture.

But what scared her more than the kiss itself was her reaction to it. She had liked it. Liked it TOO MUCH, in fact.

Meredith had never had a boyfriend before. She suppose she could have if she had wanted one, but she had never really shown any interest in any of the warlock boys back in the clan. She wasn't like Elena, who loved the challenge of chasing stubborn, hard-to-get boys only to later leave them in the dust, and she wasn't like Bonnie, who was known for getting small little crushes on any cute boy who was sweet to her.

But Elena and Bonnie had told her plenty about what it was liked to be kissed. The butterflies you feel, the way your knees go weak, and the small yearning of wanting to swoon.

Sage was her first kiss. But the issue was, when they kissed, she felt ALL of the things that Bonnie and Elena had described, but intensified by ten. And from the fact that he had been the one to start the kiss; he must have feelings for her as well.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door, and quickly and reflexively, she managed to hide the potion ingredients, the cauldron, and the book underneath the bed, hidden from view. "Come in."

After opening the door, Sage walked in, giving her a charming smile. "Good morning Meredith."

She managed a small, faint smile of her own back. "Good morning Sage."

There was a few, awkward moments of silence that passed between them, before Sage finally cleared his throat. "Listen, I apologize for kissing you last night. I know it might have made you uncomfortable."

Meredith quickly shook her head. "You didn't. I….it did take me by surprise, I'll admit that, but it didn't make me uncomfortable. I liked it", she admitted truthfully.

With that, the familiar twinkle of mischief returned to his golden eyes. "I liked it too."

She nodded, a faint, almost unnoticeable flush coloring her cheeks. "Give me a few minutes to freshen up? I'll meet you downstairs afterwards."

Sage nodded, and then responded to her request, closing the door and going back downstairs.

Meredith sighed as she pulled the potion supplies back out.

She had already freshened up enough. She just said a little white lie to get him downstairs so she could do one last touch on the potion before she went downstairs.

Yes, she was going to finish it, one way or another. She cared about Sage….and she honestly didn't know how strong those feelings could be after her reaction to the kiss they shared just last night. But whatever feelings she could have for him would need to be put aside for it. She HAD to protect Elena and Bonnie. She had always put them first, ever since they were little kids playing in the sandbox, and she always would.

_I'm sorry Sage_, she thought regretfully to herself. _But I have to do this._

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

Damon WAS dreaming about me last night. He must have. And the fact that he had left without answering me made me even more curious about what the dream had been about. But knowing him, I probably wouldn't ever find out.

Had it been a…overly romantic dream like the one I had of him? I'd like to think it was. It would at least tell me that this relationship wasn't one-sided.

After brushing my teeth and getting dressed, or as Damon could call it, "Freshening up", I walked out of the room and into the hallway, only to stop dead in my tracks at the sight of Damon standing in the spare bedroom I had explored my first day in the quarters.

And….he was looking at the painting I had looked at. The one of the little dark-eyed and green-eyed boys and the beautiful, redheaded woman that I thought looked like Drina.

Slowly, I walked into the room. "Whatcha looking at?"

He turned towards me quickly, and I had to suppress a small giggle at the fact that I had startled him. "Nothing", he answered flatly, once realizing it was me.

I walked over to stand next to him, peering down at the beautiful painting again. "Can I ask you a question?"

He nodded silently, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe we would get some progress.

"Is that you and Stefan in that painting? And is that Drina?"

He nodded. "We knew her during our human days."

His tone was short, and had a tinge of snappiness to it, and I guessed that he didn't like to talk about his human life.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry…."

He quickly waved me off. "No, it's alright. You didn't know. But my existence as a human….isn't something I like to dwell on."

I held back a small sigh. I guess my burning curiosity about the past life of my future husband would have to wait to be cured.

But I was determined to not walk away from this without ANY new information.

"Can you tell me what your dream was about then?"

His dark eyes looked surprised for a moment, but then quickly narrowed in suspicion. "Why do you wish to know?"

I let out a small giggle. "Well, you DID say my name in your sleep. I'm only curious."

A smirk danced on his lips. "What I dream about, is my concern, and my concern only, little bird."

I did a small pout. "Oh come on! If you tell me….I'll….I'll" I looked down as I could feel a blush coloring my cheeks. "I'll tell you about the dream I had about YOU."

There. I said it. I wasn't planning on ever telling Damon that I had dreamed about him, but I would make myself tell him about it if it meant getting him to tell me about his.

His dark eyes widened a little in surprise for a second, before a smirk spread across his face. "Oh?"

I reluctantly nodded. "Yes. But….but you have to go first."

He stubbornly shook his head. "I don't believe you are in the position to bargain, redbird. If you want to hear about my dream, you must tell me about yours first."

I sighed. "Fine."

I quickly began to search through my thoughts, trying to come up with the best way to begin explaining the bizarre dream I had without revealing too much.

"I had a dream about us getting married", I said tensely, "And Elena and Meredith told me that we were having the wedding earlier than planned."

His eyebrows rose. "For what reason?"

I looked down at my feet again. Here was the embarrassing part….

"Because….because we were in love, and wanted to have it take place sooner."

After that, I just stared at him, waiting for any sign of reaction; most likely a smirk or a taunting smile.

But it never came, instead, a flicker of understanding and surprise flashed through his eyes. "That is indeed odd."

I narrowed my eyes. Not the reaction I was expecting. "Odd?"

He nodded. "Yes. Because I had that same exact dream."

I gasped a little. "You did?"

"Yes."

From the expression on his face, I could tell that this new piece of information baffled him just as much as it did me, even if he did a better job at composing himself.

Why would we have the same dream? And only a night apart from the others?

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head. "What about the fact that we've exchanged blood? Didn't you say that having a blood bond would form a mental connection between us?"

Another moment of silence, before Damon slowly nodded. "Yes. That must be it."

But why did I see a hint of uncertainty in his eyes when he said it?"

* * *

**Elena**

Stefan and Elena were currently slowly taking a walk outside of the castle, strolling through the market place right outside of it.

Elena looked around curiously and suspiciously as they walked. It was interesting to finally see a bit of the vampire territory outside of the castle for once, but she knew it was still dangerous.

And to be honest, the sight of all of these vampires taking peaks at her, the witch fiancé of one of their beloved leaders, unnerved her.

Stefan, noticing her discomfort, gave her a soft smile as he gripped her hand, running his thumb over the top of it in a comforting gesture.

But what surprised Elena the most was that she made no move to remove her hand from his, and instead, even found herself subconsciously gripping his back.

"Are you alright? We could always go back to the castle and do something else."

She shook her head quickly, her golden hair flailing out in small waves at the quick motion of it. "No, it's fine. But where are you taking us?"

"To an old restaurant I used to go to during my spare time. Before….before this _arrangement_ had been made."

Elena frowned a little at that. She knew that he was talking about his engagement to her when he said "Arrangement", but she had never once suspected that it could have affected his life any.

"You don't have time to go there anymore?"

He shook his head. "Not since King Christian announced the mission. I'm expected to stay in the castle for the majority of the time."

What he was saying also indicated that he hadn't had a choice in the matter on whether or not he was going to participate in the mission or not.

_Maybe I really had misjudged him, _she thought to herself. _My, Meredith's, and Bonnie's circumstances may be worse, but maybe our vampire fiancés hadn't exactly gotten out unscathed either._

Soon, they approached a decent-sized building, with a sign that read: _**Antonio's **_and walked near the entrance.

Stefan turned back towards her. "It's a restaurant with plenty of good human food….and perhaps even food similar to the things you ate back at the clan. It's pretty universal…."

"Stefan", Elena suddenly said, cutting him off. "Can I try something?"

His eyes widened in small confusion. "Of course."

And with that, Elena leaned up slightly, and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips against his.

And….she felt it. The fireworks, and the passion that she had always longed to feel when kissing a boy, but never have. Not until now anyway.

After getting over his shock, she felt Stefan's body relax, and wrapped his arms around her waist, welcoming the kiss.

When at last they broke apart, Elena reluctantly separated herself from him, looking up at him with a small smile.

"Now Mr. Salvatore, what was that about good food?"

Stefan quickly shook his head before answering her, obviously trying to get himself out of the daze that the kiss had left in, and smiled down at her, taking her hand again.

"Right this way, Miss Gilbert."

* * *

**Klaus**

"You will act as if nothing is wrong….not at all", the blonde vampire said soothingly to the young witch trapped in his gaze. "You will act as if you were simply jealous of the three other witches, and just wanted to be included in the mission."

Caroline Forbes nodded robotically, a small grin spreading across her pretty face.

"I've always been jealous of them. They are no better than I am, so why should they be the only witches included in the mission?"

Klaus nodded. "Good girl. Now run off now. I will come back for you when you're needed. And remember: Don't speak a word of this to anyone."

Caroline nodded, before doing as he ordered, and began to slowly saunter back to the clan village.

As he watched her disappear, a slow smirk spread across the vampires face.

Everything, so far, was going to plan.

Damon Salvatore was going to pay. Oh, he was going to pay dearly.

* * *

**A/N: Now to make a few points to avoid confusion:**

**Damon/Bonnie: So Damon and Bonnie both dreamed about getting married and being in love. Is Bonnie right about it being because of the blood bond, or something else? ;)**

**Sage/Meredith: Meredith definitely has feelings for Sage. But she feels that completing the mission and protecting herself and Elena and Bonnie from having to have vampire children is more important. Do you think Sage will forgive her if he finds out?**

**Stefan/Elena: Yay, a Stelena kiss! Just a little treat for any Stelena fans that are reading this story. Elena is finally coming to a better understanding of him.**

**Damon and Klaus conflict: There IS a reason these two hate each other, and there is a reason Klaus feels that he needs to "make him pay". That will be revealed later.**

**AND if you didn't catch it, Klaus is compelling Caroline in order to use her for a master scheme he has planned. And that will also be explored further later on.**

**Thanks for reading! And don't forget to drop a review in order to get a sneak peek ;)**

**And one last note on the sneak peeks: My emails have been backed up. So if it's been a week since you reviewed, and you still haven't gotten a sneak peek for this chapter, please PM me and let me know.**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

**A/N: A big, juicy, Bamon scene coming up in this chapter ;)**

**Picahuesos: Thank you :)**

**Laura3: Thank you so much. I'm glad you like all of the couples ;)**

**Minelis: Thank you! And will do :)**

**Tatiana Ruiz: Thank ! :) I'm glad you're enjoying it**

**Lisaniv: So good to hear from you again! How are you? :) I'm glad you're enjoying the story. It means a lot.**

**Guest: Thanks :)**

**Leslie: Thank you so much :)**

**Golden Bee: I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long this time. Thank you. And I hope you like this update :) **

**3 your work: Aww *Blushes* Thank you. I'm glad you like it. I do try.**

**Alexis: I ALWAYS look forward to reading your reviews lol. I'm glad you like this story so much. It's actually my most popular one at the moment. And of course I had to have Damon be awake. It IS something he'd do ;). And Meredith's story line is actually my second favorite thing to write about in this story (right behind Bamon) so I'm glad you're enjoying it. :)**

**Sian D: Thank you so much! And I love putting references from the books in my AU stories, so you may see Bonnie getting possessed or having a vision at some point in this one ;)**

**Caro: ¡Gracias! Me encanta Damon y Bonnie demasiado ;)**

**Carolina: Gracias!**

**Picahuesos: Gracias por la revisión. Y por supuesto que lo hare ;)**

* * *

Bonnie's POV

I watched as the snow continued to fall, excitement pounding through my chest.

It was officially the first day of December, and that meant two things: snow….and Christmas.

Christmas had always been my favorite holiday. Back at the clan, Christmas was spent in the large courthouse, and all three of the royal families, and some of our invited friends, spent it together. We always had the largest tree we could fine, and then we would….

I trailed off in my thoughts, shaking my head, suddenly feeling a bit sad. I guess I would be celebrating Christmas a bit differently this year….if at all.

Sighing, I got down from my place on the chair next to the window, finally deciding to leave the room and meet Damon downstairs. He was bound to be waiting for me.

Sure enough, I found him sitting in his armchair by the fireplace, his eyes intently glued to a piece of paper in his hands.

I shyly and slowly approached him.

Since that night a week ago, when I had caught him dreaming about me, spent the night in his arms, and later discovered that we shared the same dream, things had been a bit…weird between us.

We still talked to each other, and managed to maintain our friendship, but things were now a little different.

I knew for sure now that I had feelings for him. But now the question was; how strong were the feelings? And how deep did they go?

"Hey Damon?" I started quietly, trying to keep my voice casual. "Have you ever celebrated Christmas?"

His dark eyes looked up from the paper and at her, curious.

"We have no time for such things."

"Oh." I tried to hide my disappointment, but was sure I failed.

Luckily, Damon seemed too immersed in the paper he was looking at to really take notice.

I cleared my throat. "So do you guys EVER have fun here?"

This, as expected, made him look up again. "What?"

I shrugged casually, sitting down in the armchair next to his. "I don't know. It just seems like there aren't a lot of things to do around here for fun. Do you even know how to have fun?" I finished with a teasing smile.

Damon arched a brow, finally putting his paper down on the small table in front of him. "Is that so?"

I nodded. "Yep."

"Well, I'll have you know Redbird, that I am the master of fun." He paused to wink and shoot his 500 kilowatt smile at me. "But I assume that my idea of fun is a bit…different from yours."

I let out a shy giggle at his words. "You know what I meant, Damon."

I paused to examine his face before continuing. "I challenge you to a snowball fight."

At his confused expression, I sighed. I had forgotten how old-fashioned he was about some things.

"It's where you go out into the snow, make little round balls of it, and then throw it at each other."

"And why would we do that?"

"For fun." I then gave him a little smirk. "But….I guess we don't HAVE to, if you're too afraid of losing. It would be the first time you ever had a snowball fight…."

He waved me off, and mischievous glint now appearing in his dark, obsidian eyes.

"Challenge accepted Redbird."

Hours later, Elena, Meredith, and I all three found ourselves hiding behind a snow fort we had made, our eyes scanning the area for any sign of our vampire fiancés.

After Damon had accepted my snowball fight challenge, it had been my idea to invite Elena, Meredith, Stefan, and Sage as well to make it a group war.

And….so far, I was extremely surprised at my friends' behavior.

First off, Stefan and Elena held hands during the whole walk out of the castle and into the snowy lawn…and we ended up having to practically pry them away from each other to separate into our teams. When Meredith and I had shot her questioning looks, Elena had merely shrugged, silently stating she would explain to us later.

And then Meredith….well, she and Sage were now acting the complete opposite. They had started out as the pair that got along the best out of the six of us, but now Meredith seemed to be distancing herself from him a little. I could also see that Sage was confused by her behavior.

Looks like the three of us were going to have one of our group meetings soon.

But for now, we were at war.

"Any sign of them yet?" I asked Meredith, who was keeping the eye out this time around while Elena and I crouched down out of sight.

She shook her head. "Nope."

With that, all three of us then stood up, shivering a little from the cold.

The snowball fight had now been going on for about thirty minutes now, and both parties were freezing and soaked from attacking each other. But it wouldn't be over until one of the teams, ours or theirs, surrendered and the other was proclaimed as winners.

Just then, a parade of snowballs began to hit the three of us from the back, and we whirled around, wide-eyed.

They had somehow snuck up on us.

Making a strange noise between a gasp and a laugh, I quickly picked up a handful of snow and hurled it at them, hitting Damon square in the chest.

After the rapid fire of snowballs between the six of us finally died down, Sage turned towards his fellow vampires, grinning.

"I say we split up and each chase down one of them."

Stefan nodded, an uncharacteristic smirk appearing on his face. "Sounds like a plan."

And then we found ourselves running from our respective fiancés.

Sadly, I was no match for Damon. With a giggle, I attempted to avoid him when I could feel him coming up behind me by diving into the snow, but it was futile, and in the end, all I managed to do was get my clothes more soaked then they already were.

I felt him grab my leg and gently drag me through the snow towards him.

In seconds, he was hovering over me, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Got you Redbird." He then leaned down closer to me as I sat up into a sitting position, and I sucked in a deep breath at our closeness.

His face was only a few inches from mine when he whispered his next words.

"You look like a snow angel."

For the first time that day, I was glad for the freezing weather and soaking clothes. That way, my face was already red, so my bashfulness wouldn't show.

It was then that I noticed Damon was staring at me….at my lips in particular.

Reflexively, I closed my eyes as he began to lean in closer….

"Truce! We call a truce!"

Damon and I jumped apart at the sound of Elena's hysterical, laughing voice.

He frowned, obviously annoyed at the interruption, and I found that I couldn't help but share his feelings.

I was sure that he would have kissed me had we not been stopped and...I found myself disappointed that we didn't get to it.

But at the same time, I was glad that the war was over. I was freezing.

Damon held out a hand to help me off the ground, and I grabbed it, letting him pull me to my feet.

"Well Redbird, it looks like you've lost."

I laughed, walking along by his side as we headed back towards the castle.

"Elena and Meredith weren't as prepared as they could have been, because I didn't get a chance to tell them in time. A re-match is needed."

He chuckled. "Are you that determined to be buried in the snow?" As he asked this, I could feel his hand running briefly through my wet curls, and I leaned into him a little.

"It was fun", I said simply, giving him a small smile. "And admit it; you had fun too."

"Maybe just a bit."

* * *

After taking a long, soothing, warm shower and changing into dry clothes, I asked Damon if I could go meet Elena and Meredith in the garden, and he had shrugged, claiming I could do what I wanted.

After thanking him, I happily ran off outside to the castle garden, and as expected, both my best friends were there waiting for me.

"Okay Elena. So what was with you and Stefan holding hands?" I asked, wagging my eyebrows playfully.

Elena laughed. "Well….I kind of….kissed him a few days ago."

At this, even Meredith's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You kissed him?"

Elena nodded. "Yes. I'm still having a hard time believing it myself."

I sat down next to them. "So are you guys….together now?"

I hoped they knew what they meant. Technique, Damon and I, Meredith and Sage, and Stefan and Elena had ALWAYS been together in the engaged sense, but until now, none of us have actually acted like a couple with our vampire fiancés.

"I don't know."

Meredith frowned. "You don't know?"

"Well…we haven't really said anything to confirm it."

I let out a giggle. "Elena, you hold his hand, we all saw both of you sneak smiles at each other when other wasn't looking, and you've kissed. You're together."

She smiled warmly in response. "Yes. I suppose we are then."

Meredith shook her head. "Elena Gilbert. Having feelings for a vampire."

It was kind of weird. Although none of us had been happy about our engagements at all in the beginning, Elena had been the most against it. She had given Stefan a hard time whenever she had the chance, and had no problem voicing her hatred of vampires.

And now, she was the first one of us to get all couple-happy with a vampire.

"But I obviously wasn't the only one acting weird today", Elena said suddenly, narrowing her blue eyes as she turned to look at Meredith. "Why were you giving Sage the cold shoulder? I thought you got along with him?"

Meredith shuffled her feet in an almost nervous way, and I knew right then that something was wrong. Meredith was hardly EVER nervous about anything.

"I wasn't giving him the cold shoulder."

Elena rolled her eyes. "Meredith, you hardly looked at him at all during the whole snowball fight, and each time he threw a snowball at you to try to get his attention, you ignored him."

Silence passed between us then, and an idea suddenly popped into my head. "Mere….does….does this have something to the potion?"

So much had been going on lately that I had almost forgotten about the pact Elena, Meredith, and I had made about refusing to allow the vampires to use us in their "mission" and making breeding factories out of us.

When she remained silent, I knew I had my answer. Elena and I exchanged knowing looks.

"Meredith…."

But I never got to finish my sentence, because at that moment, Stefan came running outside.

"Bonnie, go back to your quarters. Elena and Meredith….both of you come with me."

Elena raised an eyebrow at his distressed tone. "Stefan, is something wrong?"

His expression was grim. "Sage…has gone missing."

At that, Meredith got up from her bench and on her feet. "What?"

"He left about an hour ago to scope out a disturbance we sensed out in the grounds of the castle", Stefan replied gently. "He hasn't been back since."

"Has someone gone to look for him?" Meredith asked.

Stefan nodded. "We're doing the best we can. But….in the meantime, we would like to place the castle on lockdown. We all need to go back to our quarters. And Meredith", he turned to address her directly. "You'll be staying with Elena and I until he's found."

* * *

Hours later, I was finally lying in my own bed, staring up at the ceiling in the darkness.

I was still thinking about what had happened earlier in the garden. The look on Meredith's face when Stefan said Sage was missing….though she had acted like her normal calm and collected self, anyone that knew her as well as Elena and I did knew she was worried.

Meredith had feelings for Sage. That part was obvious. And…if Elena and I were thinking the same thing, we knew that was why she's been acting distant towards him lately. She might feel guilty for making the potion for us now, and going behind his back.

For a second, I thought back to when the three of us had first formed the potion plan. Elena had overheard Stefan and King Christian talking about "The Mission" and all three of us had been horrified at the thought of being used to breed, basically. And none of us wanted to face being impregnated by a vampire.

But now….I sucked in a small breath as I thought this. But now that I think about it now, maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

I mean, all three of us at least liked out fiancés now. And the fact that Meredith told us that Sage was a half vampire and half witch, and his mother had survived his birth, it obviously wouldn't hurt us. Maybe having their children wouldn't be as horrible as I had originally thought.

And Meredith is always sacrificing things to help and protect us. She has for our whole lives. So maybe it was time Elena and I made a sacrifice for her, and tell her that we could drop the potion plan.

Just then, I heard the door creak open. Figuring it was Damon, I whispered into the darkness.

"Is something wrong?"

But the voice that answered wasn't Damon's.

"Yes. Meredith….she's going to go out on her own to look for Sage. We have to stop her."

"Elena!" I exclaimed in a whisper. "How...how did you get in here?!"

"I used magic to unlock the door. Damon and Stefan are both at a night meeting, so they have no idea." She stepped closer to my bed so I could see her face dimly in the dark, her face etched with worry. "Will you come and talk to Meredith with me?"

She shouldn't have used magic. Damon, Stefan, and Sage could all three trace it, and they could end up getting mad at us for breaking our promise about not using it to try to escape the castle.

But this was an emergency. Meredith couldn't go out this late at night, and out into the blizzard, all by herself.

Nodding quickly, I threw on the slippers that were on the floor, not thinking I had the time to change into something more appropriate, and followed Elena out the door.

* * *

We found Meredith outside, just as she was about to leave the castle grounds, and head into the thick gathering of trees next to the castle.

It was freezing. I shivered as I hugged my arms around myself, as huge, quick snowflakes flew through the sky hurriedly and heavily. The snow was now up to our knees.

"Meredith", Elena began, a little angrily. "Are you CRAZY? It's cold out here, and in the middle of the night. You can't go out here by yourself."

"I know I shouldn't", Meredith replied flatly, betraying not emotion. "But I have to. He's in trouble, I can sense it. And the other vampires haven't done anything to come closer to finding him."

"But can't you wait until tomorrow?" I asked. "Doing it in daylight we'll be easier. We'll…we'll even somehow help you get out here without being noticed."

"There's no time. And….I don't want to risk not being able to escape the castle again." She then looked away from us, and towards the trees. "Just…go back to the castle. Both of you. You don't need to be dragged into this. I'll be back as soon as I can."

And before we could get another word out, she bolted, running at full speed into the thicket of trees.

This whole situation was beyond weird. Meredith….calm, collected, RATIONAL Meredith, never pulled something like this before. It was almost unnerving to see.

Elena and I ran after her, calling out her name, but because of the slowness of trying to move through the high snow, and the blistering snowflakes that was flying into our faces, momentarily blinding us for a few seconds at a time before we wiped at them.

"How did she get so far ahead of us?" I stuttered a little from the cold, but still managed to come out coherent.

Elena frowned. "I don't know. But…but we have to find her before we go back. She could get lost….or even _killed_ out in this weather by herself."

I nodded in an agreement, and we continued to run, calling out Meredith's name, our eyes scanning every inch of the area the best we could through the snow for any sign of her.

Finally….I saw a head with medium long, raven hair, and let out a small sigh of relief.

"I see her!" I said, pointing in the direction. "We could probably catch up with her if we hurry!"

Without thinking, I ran in the direction of where I saw Meredith, my mind so focused on getting to her so that we all three could go back to the castle where it was safe, that I didn't even register Meredith's own worried face as she tried to wave at me to go back, or Elena's frantic voice telling me to stop.

And by the time I realized the dangerous situation, it was too late.

With a blast of utter and complete coldness, and the icy terror of what happened, I found myself sinking into frozen lake I had not realized I was running on, cracking through the ice and sinking in.

* * *

**Elena**

Elena watched with horror as she saw Bonnie's red head disappear into the frozen lake.

Both her and Meredith had shouted and screamed at her to stop running, but she either hadn't heard them, or was too excited at the concept of finding Meredith that she hadn't registered what they were saying.

She and Meredith exchanged worried, and horrified looks as they hurriedly tried to come up with an idea of what to do. Bonnie couldn't stay in there too long without freezing to death….or she could easily drown.

They couldn't use magic. They hadn't been in school long enough to learn a spell good enough to handle this kind of situation.

Sucking in a deep breath, Elena lightly stepped one foot onto the ice, and cringed when it nearly broke through the ice, quickly yanking it back to solid ground.

"It's….it's too thin! One light step can collapse the entire thing…."

"We have to try anyway", Meredith shot back to her seriously.

But just before the two girls were about to attempt walking on the ice again, Elena felt a figure whoosh past her in lighting speed, and they watched with widened eyes as Damon appeared out of nowhere, and with lighting speed, dove into the water after Bonnie.

They waited with bated breaths before he shot back out of the water again...with Bonnie in his arms.

The expression on his face was deadly, but Elena could sense a tinge of deep fear and worry in those dark eyes as well.

"Damon, will….will she be….."

"Get back to the castle. Both of you", he interrupted coldly. He was glaring at both of them with such a cold, accusing glare, full of fury.

A flash of anger went through Elena at the thought that he was blaming them for what happened, but before she could say anything, Damon was gone, Bonnie still locked in his arms, no doubt using his vampire speed to hurry back to the castle.

Elena glanced at Meredith again, and the two grimly nodded at each other, as the dark haired girl slowly attempted to find a safe way around the frozen lake.

They needed to get back to the castle. And fast.

* * *

**Damon**

Damon didn't stop once on his way back to the castle and into his quarters. He could just sense Bonnie's life slowly slipping out of her small, frozen, unconscious body, and he wasn't going to allow it to happen.

After wrenching the locked door off its hinges, more likely breaking it in the process, he ran up to the grand bathroom, and quickly turned the faucet to fill the bathtub with hot water.

Now that he had time to really look at her, he examined his little bird.

He didn't like the sight. At all. She was barely breathing.

Angrily, the dark vampire tore into his own wrist, causing a steady stream of blood to flow, and then gently forced Bonnie's mouth open, angling her head to make it easier for the blood to go down her throat.

He couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief at the fact that he was able to make most of it go down, and that it seemed to be working. The color was slowly starting to return to her pale, frozen body.

But he still needed to get her warm.

Once the bathtub was filled, he quickly began to disrobe her, taking off her soaking wet shirt first.

Normally, he was never one to handle a maiden's modesty so carelessly, but he had more important things to be concerned about. If it came down to Bonnie's life or her modesty, he would choose her life every time.

Still, he tried not to look at her naked body more then was necessary as he lowered her into the tub, grabbing the sponge to soak up some of the water, and lightly poured some onto the top of her head, trying to spread the warmness.

He could see even more improvement through his efforts. Her breathing was becoming more normal, though she still hadn't awakened. But he wasn't going to take any risks.

Taking his still bleeding wrist back to her lips, he began to feed her his blood again, while he used his free hand to continue rubbing her body with the sponge.

At this point, she had swallowed enough of his blood that even if her heart DID stop beating, she would still come back. Not as a human, but she wouldn't be completely dead. That took a huge burden off his shoulders, but he figured it would be better if he tried to make it so she could make it alive as a human.

And slowly but surely, her chocolate brown eyes finally opened.

"Damon?"

Her voice was weak and quiet, but she was speaking.

"Redbird", he breathed, pulling her closer, so overcome with relief that he had momentarily forgotten about her body's bareness. "_Amore mio, stai bene._ Don't _ever_ do that to me again. For a brief few moments, I had thought I had lost you."

He could see the little redheaded witch smile a little, though weakly. "But you didn't. You…you saved my life. Didn't you?"

But Damon didn't answer her. For a reason beyond him, he just didn't know what words to say. And a building urge was building up, so much, that he had to act on it.

He kissed her.

It was a gentle kiss, but a passionate, devouring one filled with longing. A kiss that he had been burning to give her for days now.

Bonnie seemed surprised by his actions at first, but after a moment, she accepted the kiss, melting against him, and softly moving her own lips against his.

They continued like that for a few moments, before Damon finally wrenched himself away, remembering Bonnie's need to breath.

A few moments of silence passed between them, before Bonnie spoke again.

"Damon….I am okay. Thanks to you anyway. Thank you…for…for saving my life."

With this, he only responded with a simple sentence, still holding her as close to him as the tub would allow. "You'll be lucky if I ever allow you to leave my sight again."

At this, Bonnie only smiled.

* * *

**A/N: I know I said in my sneak peeks that Caroline was supposed to be in this chapter, but after I finished writing it, I just thought this was a good place to end it. But you guys FINALLY got a Bamon kiss, so I'm forgiven, right? ;)**

**And yes, that bathtub scene was based on the wonderful bathtub scene in **_**Nightfall. **_**One of my favorite Bamon scenes from the series ever.**

**If you're wondering about Sage, Meredith, Elena, and Stefan, that will all be answered in the next chapter. It will be a direct aftermath of this one.**

**One more note: I'm sorry if I teased any show fans with Klaroline on the last chapter. I have no intention of actually pairing them together in this story. One, I HATE Klaroline (No offense to anyone who likes it of course), two, Klaroline is a SHOW thing, and this fanfic is for the BOOKS, and lastly, I don't watch the show anymore because I well...I hate it XD So sorry if I got anyone's hopes up with that. But Klaus will only be using Caroline in this story.**

**Review for a sneak peek! :)**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

**Anonymous responses:**

**Mareesha: Thank you! :)**

**Guest: Will do! Thank you :)**

**Gymnast26: School does keep me busy. But I will never abandon this story. Thank you for the review :)**

**Guest: Your favorite? Aww thanks! :)**

**Sian D: Dark World will be the next one updated ;) Thanks for your support. And for your question about Klaus: He isn't falling for anyone in this story. I'm only using him as a villain :)**

**SAMANTHLOVE: Awww thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it. And don't worry. I may be slow with updating, but I will not give up on this story until it's finished :)**

**Sinthuya: Yep. Not a fan of the show anymore. I'm sticking with the books. Thanks for your review. I'm glad you liked the Stelena and Bamon scenes :)**

**BamonForEternity: THANK YOU! I'm glad you liked that little scene at the end. The bathtub scene is one of my favorite scenes of all time in the books, so I wanted to do something to honor it in this story. :)**

**BabyA: Yep, all of the couples are doing okay for right now. But be prepared for some Sage and Meredith angst in this chapter. Thanks for the review :)**

**Alexis: I was hoping you would drop me a review, as I always look forward to yours. :) My favorite female character in the books is Meredith, so I did want to give her a good SL in this story. REALLY glad you liked the Bamon kiss. I was so giddy as I was writing it haha :)**

**Veronica: ¡Gracias! Me alegro de que te haya gustado el capítulo. Y me encantó la escena de la bañera en la serie de libros, así que tuve que hacer una referencia a él en la historia. Y sí, el Damon en esta historia es mucho más tierna y dulce luego el de Dark World. El Damon en el mundo oscuro es muy oscuro;). Y no hay problema, soy un hablante nativo de Inglés, pero no tengo ningún problema con ansering sus preguntas en español. Sólo me perdone si me equivoco :)**

**Leslie: Will do! Thanks :)**

**Guest: Thanks for the review :)**

**Guest: *High fives you* Klaroline haters FTW XD Thanks for reviewing :)**

**Guest: LOL. The books would be filled with Bamon and Stelena if I wrote them. Thanks for the review :)**

**DamonBonnie S: Thank you! And yes, poor Meredith. Sadly, things are going to get worse between her and Sage before they get better, so prepare for some angst. And sure. What tips do you need? :)**

**EvaMedina: Gracias :) No he leído los libros de GW porque yo no los considero real. Estoy contento con sólo leer fanfiction :) Me alegro mucho de que te haya gustado la poca referencia que hice a nuestra escena amado bañera Bamon de la serie de libros. :)**

**Guest: Thank you! :)**

**Chibibook: Thank you! And no sweat….i'm just have you enjoyed and reviewed this one :)**

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

I snuggled further into Damon as he wrapped his arms around me.

We were both sitting in his armchair next to the fireplace, with me on his lap. I had changed into my nightgown after Damon was convinced I had been properly warmed up, and had a blanket around my shoulders as Damon held me.

I sighed blissfully as I felt him lean down and kiss the top of my head.

I had been hours since Damon had saved my life and…..kissed me. A part of me wondered how Elena and Meredith were, and wanted to see them, but Damon had insisted that I needed my rest, and reassured me that both of my best friends were safe.

But Sage was still missing. And they had a search party of vampires out looking for him as we speak.

"Damon", I let out a giggle when he began to plant kisses on my neck. "Damon….I'm fine now, really. You should go help them look for Sage."

He hesitated.

I placed a comforting hand on his arm. "I'll be fine. Really."

When he still didn't say anything, I continued. "If you're really worried about it, you could always let Meredith and Elena in here while you're gone. They have been trying to see me all night, but you wouldn't let them…."

"They are the reason you were put in danger in the first place", Damon cut off strictly.

I frowned a little. "No they weren't. It was my own dumb fault for running on the ice. They tried to warn me, but I wouldn't listen. And…" I looked up at him, pleading. "I want to see them. Please?"

He let out a sigh of his own. "Fine. But only if you promise not to leave the armchair. You need your rest, little bird."

I nodded. "I promise."

He then picked me up to stand up, and then put me back in the armchair, placing the blanket over me.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." His eyes narrowed. "You are not to break your word while I'm away."

I nodded. "I won't…..I swear." I then shot him a playful grin. "Quit worrying so much."

His dark eyes rolled, but he gave me a nod of confirmation before going out the door.

* * *

**Meredith**

"Has Damon said anything at all about it?"

Meredith frowned as Elena nodded in response to her question. "He did tell me that she was going to be fine. I….I just wish he would let us see her!"

The ending tone of Elena's voice indicated that she was growing even angrier at the thought of the dark eyed vampire refusing to let them see Bonnie, and truthfully, Meredith was beginning to have the same sentiments.

What was worse was that she put herself partly to blame for what had happened to Bonnie. She didn't even know what had gotten into her. As soon as she had heard that Sage was missing, she just….snapped. All her mind had known was that she HAD to somehow find him, at all costs.

And because of her impulsiveness, Bonnie had nearly drowned.

As if on cue, Damon suddenly appeared behind Elena. "If you both still wish to see her, Bonnie requests your company while I join the search party for Sage."

Elena had been startled a little by his abrupt appearance, and jumped slightly, whirling around to face him. However, she put on her brave face as soon as she saw who it was.

"So we can see her?"

Damon nodded, looking a bit irritated. "I believe that's what I just said."

He then pulled something out of his jacket pocket, and for a second, looked like he was going to give whatever it was to Elena, but changed his mind at the last second, turning towards Meredith instead.

He pressed the coolness of a metal key into her palm, his midnight eyes looking into hers intently.

"Don't make me regret this."

* * *

**Elena**

Elena and Meredith walked slowly to Damon's quarters, both surprised and relieved that he was allowing them free, unsupervised access to it to visit Bonnie.

He had been getting on Elena's last nerves. They were Bonnie's best friends….practically her sisters. How dare he say they weren't "allowed" to see her?

Meredith shot her a stern look as they reached the door, silently warning her to calm herself down before they saw Bonnie.

Elena nodded mutely, and sucked in a deep breath, silently calming herself down.

"Okay. I'm ready."

Meredith nodded back at her, and unlocked the door with the key Damon had given her, and they let themselves inside, shutting the door behind them.

"Hey guys!"

Both of them turned to see a smiling and luckily healthy-looking Bonnie sitting in an armchair by a grand fireplace, a blanket wrapped around her.

"Bonnie!" They both exclaimed in unison, before running over to her, both girls surprising the small redhead as they wrapped their arms around her.

"Hey….hey guys! I do need to breathe!" Bonnie laughed, though hugging them both back.

Meredith, the normally calm and collected one out of their group, surprised both Elena and Bonnie when the group finally broke apart, and she had a small amount of tears in her eyes.

"Bonnie…I'm so sorry."

Bonnie's chocolate brown eyes widened in genuine confusion. "Sorry for what?"

"You almost drowned because of me", Meredith answered with narrowed eyes. "Don't tell me you somehow forgot….."

Bonnie shook her head quickly. "Oh! Meredith, it wasn't your fault." She looked up at her friend with an almost pleading look. "I was the one who ran on the ice….despite you and Elena yelling at me to stop."

Meredith sighed. "I acted impulsively, Bonnie. And I have no excuse for it."

Bonnie smiled. "You were just worried about Sage. I….I might have done the same thing had it been Da…." She trailed off, her cheeks flushing, as if just now realizing what she had been about to say.

Elena smirked at her. "So….I was right about you having feelings for Damon then?"

Bonnie had the look of a little kid that got caught with their hand in the cookie jar, and it left Elena mildly confused. Why did she not want them to know about it? She and Meredith had already confessed to having feelings for Stefan and Sage, after all, so why was Bonnie so worried about her and Damon?

"Hey….it's okay, Bonnie. I mean, you already know that I have feelings for Stefan, and Meredith for Sage."

Bonnie shook her head. "But Sage and Stefan don't have records for being vicious killers during the war", she said sadly.

Elena knew what she was talking about. Damon was feared greatly back at the clan, and was known for being one of the most dangerous vampires around when the war between their two kingdoms was raging. She remembered hearing several stories about him, and their teachers seemed to want to go out of their way to paint Damon as someone to fear above all.

But….the truth was Elena never really saw him as that. She had always hated all vampires with equal measure until she met Stefan, but to her, Damon was no more than the average vampire…who just happened to be one of the most powerful during the war.

Yes, he had killed. A lot. But a lot of their best witch and warlock warriors had killed many vampires as well. It was war, after all.

As if reading her mind, Meredith voiced her thoughts to Bonnie.

"Damon was acting on the call of duty of war, Bonnie. I'm sure Sage and Stefan killed their fair share of our kind too, they just weren't as renowned in the war."

"Maybe there is something wrong with all three of us", Elena added with a soft, short laugh. "None of us should be having these types of feelings for _vampires. _But….Damon is no worse than Stefan or Sage. We're all one in the same in terms of craziness."

Bonnie looked surprised that both of them had somewhat defended Damon, but smiled gratefully at her two best friend, obviously feeling better about the situation.

"Thanks guy. And….yes. I do have feelings for him."

She looked away briefly as yet another blush colored her cheeks. "He um, he sort of kissed me earlier, after he saved me. And I….I liked it. I can't really deny it anymore."

When her two friends remained silent, she babbled on nervously. "I mean, I had a hard time realizing it, because I felt like I _shouldn't _have felt that way about him, both with him being a vampire, and _especially _after the blood incident, but now I really can't….."

"Wait", Meredith interrupted calmly. "What blood incident?"

Bonnie's eyes widened to the size of saucers, but knowing she was caught, she explained. "Well…I….Damon, we exchanged blood."

Silence swept through the room. Elena herself was shocked by this. Back at the clan, exchanging blood with a vampire was considered the ultimate sin, and Bonnie _knew _that. That very fact had been drilled into their heads since the day they could talk. So the fact that Bonnie would exchange blood with Damon, even if she had growing feelings for him, was baffling.

Meredith narrowed her eyes. If she was as shocked as Elena was about this news, she was doing a good job at hiding it. "You willingly exchanged blood with him? Then why is it a reason that you had a hard time accepting you had feelings for him?"

Bonnie was quiet for a moment, and as horrible as a liar she was, Elena could tell she was quickly scrambling for a fake explanation.

But after a few moments, she seemed to give up, and let out a sigh. "Don't freak out….."

"Bonnie", Elena cut off angrily, realization hitting her in waves. "Did Damon _force_ you to exchange blood with him?"

Bonnie's lack of an answer gave Elena all the answer she needed.

However, at seeing the enraged looks on both her best friend's faces, Bonnie quickly gripped of their hands frantically. "PLEASE don't make a big deal about this! Yes, what Damon did scared me at first, but he apologized! And I've already forgiven him a while ago!"

This didn't put Elena at ease. Another one of Bonnie's Achilles heels, besides the disability of lying, was her nature of forgiving too easily. Damon could have easily given Bonnie a half-assed apology without meaning a word of it, and she could see Bonnie forgiving him.

"That may be Bonnie, but we're your friends. It's natural for us to be worried about you", Meredith calmly stated, though Elena could see through her smooth exterior that she was just as unease about this as she was. "Has Damon forced you to do anything since?"

Bonnie quickly shook her head. "No, he hasn't touched me since….not in a way that I didn't want, anyway", she added, flushing. "And….I know that what he did was wrong, but I understand why he did it now. He only wanted to protect me. In fact, our blood bond that was created from the exchange was the only reason he knew I was in danger when I fell through the ice."

After a few moments of processing this information, both girls slowly nodded.

"Okay, Bonnie", Elena said slowly. "But….if something like that happens again, don't keep it from us, okay?" Meredith quietly nodded her agreement.

Bonnie managed a small smile at them. "Okay. I promise I won't. But nothing will happen again", she ended stubbornly.

With that, Elena and Meredith walked over to sit down on the loveseat a few feet across from the armchair Bonnie was placed in. The redhead in question cleared her throat. "So…any progress on finding Sage?"

Meredith shook her head sullenly. "No."

Elena and Bonnie exchanged looks, and nodded in a silent agreement.

"Meredith", Elena began softly. "There's actually something we need to tell you…."

"About the potion you've been working on", Bonnie piped in.

Meredith frowned. "What about it?"

"Well…all of us have gained at least a little bit of feelings for our fiancés. So we figured….maybe it won't be so bad, having their children", Bonnie answered.

Meredith stared at both of them as if they had each grown an extra head. "You're saying…..that you _don't _want me to make the potion anymore?"

Elena nodded. "We….we don't need it anymore. And we know how much you're secretly hurting over betraying Sage by working on it. So….let's just bag the plan."

Meredith's eye widened slightly with surprise, and….gratitude. "You're both sure?"

Both girls nodded in responses, and Meredith nodded, obviously relieved.

"I'll get rid of what I have so far tonight."

Before any of the three girls could say anything more, the door to the quarters suddenly and violently flew open, and a very angry and deadly looking Damon walked in.

Bonnie looked alarmed as she addressed her obviously seething fiancé. "Damon, what's wrong?"

"Sage has been found", Damon answered shortly.

"He….he has?" Meredith said, lost in one of her rare moments of complete emotion. But before Damon could even think of answering her, she was out the door, no doubt heading out to look for Sage.

Elena glared at Damon. "Then why are so angry? Isn't the fact that he's found a good thing?"

"Miss Gilbert, I really don't have the patience for you", Damon said in a deadly, calm voice. "I suggest leaving and going to my brother for your answers. He has far more patience then I do."

Insulted, Elena opened her mouth to say something, but stopped at Bonnie pleading look at her. Without another word, she reluctantly did what Damon had told her to do, and left the quarters in search of Stefan.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

"Damon….what's wrong? Why are you so upset?"

Like Elena had been, I was completely confused. If Sage was found….Damon should be happy. Or content at least. Not walking around like a raging bull.

He sighed, as if finally realizing the way he was acting, and he came over to sit in the armchair next to mine.

"My apologies, little bird. I am simply suspicious at _who _had found Sage."

I raise an eyebrow, hoping there was more to this story. Damon didn't seem like the type to get angry over someone finding his friend just because _he _hadn't found him first. It seemed….too immature for him.

"Well, who found him?"

"Klaus", Damon bit out, as if the very name was vile. "And I don't buy his story….not one bit."

Oh. And there was the explanation. "Klaus?" I repeated, a bit disbelieving myself. I hadn't even imagine that he would be part of the search party, let alone be the one to bring Sage back. "Where did he find him?"

"He claims that he found him passed out somewhere in the woods", Damon answered flatly. "But now….he's getting certain benefits that I'm sure he was aiming at getting."

"Like what?"

He frowned. "Well, as expected, King Christian is very grateful to him for finding his lost son. And as an award….he's letting him marry a witch of his own."

I froze, realization hitting me fast. "So….you think Klaus had something to do with Sage getting lost in the first place? And that he "found him" because he knew he would get that reward from the king?"

Damon nodded. "Exactly. He is feigning the act of a hero in order to gain benefits."

"Has Sage said anything? Does….does he know what happened to him?"

He shook his head. "No. Very _conveniently _for Klaus, Sage doesn't remember a thing about what happened to him."

With everything he was telling me, it was honestly no wonder why Damon was suspicious.

Before I could say anything else, Damon pulled me into his arms, sitting me down in his lap as he stoked my red curls, holding me to him.

"You will be expected to be careful the next few days, redbird. Klaus and I have….had disagreements in the past, some of which he still wants to gain revenge over me for. I don't know what I'd do if he harmed you."

Though he was still speaking in a serious, business-like-tone, what he said was so sweet that I had to smile a little. "I promise to be careful." I paused before looking up at him directly. "What….bad disagreements have you had with Klaus?"

He smiled softly. "That, my dear is a conversation for another night."

I pouted slightly. It wasn't fair. I had told him almost everything about my life back at the clan, but with him, I knew next to nothing about his past.

But it was then that another question hit me. One that I had been burning to ask him since the day I first found I was engaged to him.

"Damon? Could you answer another question?"

He gave a casual shrug. "It depends on what it is."

Of course. I sucked in a small breath. "When Katherine first told me that I was engaged to you, she said that you were originally going to be paired with Elena, but you specially chose me over her. I just wanted to know…..why?"

I looked down at my hands as I continued. "I mean, out of the three of us, why _me? _Meredith is the smartest out of us, and Elena is by far the most beautiful. And I'm….well, just me."

It was the truth. All my life growing up at the clan, I had always been kind of the background witch out of our trio. Meredith was the wisest and most talented, and Elena….well, she was no better a witch then I was, but her beauty and fiery, headstrong personality drew people to her like moths to a flame.

So the fact that _Damon, _one of the most renowned vampires in history, would choose me over both of them without really knowing me simply didn't add up.

I felt his fingers softly and gently brush under my chin, lifting it to make me look into his dark pool of eyes.

"First off, _Elena _is one the most frustrating, incompetent people I've had the misfortune of meeting. Had I been paired with her, I surely would have snapped her neck by now."

"Damon!" I exclaimed, hitting his arm playfully. "She's my best friend!"

He chuckled lowly. "And I for one will never understand how you continue to associate yourself with her and remain sane."

"Second of all, I find it unsettling that you doubt yourself so much, redbird."

I smiled weakly at him. "I was always the most unnoticed out of the three of us at school."

Damon shook his head. "The people back at your clan were merely fools that were too blind to see what I see." He pulled me closer, his lips going to the top of my head, planting a kiss there. "When I first laid eyes on you, I knew you had untapped potential, my little bird. I knew there was more then what met the eye. Behind your kitten exterior, lived a tigress. I chose you simply because I wanted to _unearth _it, and truly see it for myself."

I felt tears prickling at my eyes. I had never known that he….saw so much in me.

"I always thought you found me annoying", I said, giggling a bit.

He leaned down, this time pressing his lips against mine in a light kiss.

_You could never be annoying to me, il mio amore bella._

I smiled against his lips at the sound of my mental voice speaking to me, before wrapping my arms around his neck, kissing back.

* * *

**Meredith**

Meredith knocked frantically at the door of Sage's quarters.

After searching and frantically speaking to several different vampires, she had finally gotten one of them to tell her that Sage had been taken back to his quarters for recovery time.

Her impatient knocking was finally heard, and the door swung open to reveal a very irritated looking female vampire.

"I'm Meredith Sulez, Sage's finance", she said softly, hoping her franticness didn't show too much. "May I come inside?"

The dark haired vampire looked hesitant at first, before sighing. "You may come inside. But you must not cause any trouble. King Christian made an order to have all quarter buildings searched for any possible threats after the disappearance of Sage, and this one is in the middle of being searched."

Meredith nodded in agreement. She was so anxious to see Sage that she hadn't even really picked up on the fact that the vampire had said that the quarters were being searched. All that mattered at the moment was Sage.

The vampire let her in then, and she had to resist the urge to run inside, instead, taking her time.

But she had to hold back a small flow of tears as she finally caught sight of Sage. He looked weak and tired, and he was lying down in an armchair, much like Bonnie had been, but he was alive.

He even managed to shoot her one of the famous smiles she had grown so used to at her.

"Meredith."

That did it. Forgetting her earlier caution to remind calm, Meredith rushed over to him, clasping one of his hands with hers. "Sage….I was so worried about you…."

He laughed lightly. "I'm fine, Meredith."

She closed her eyes as she felt him softly begin to stroke dark hair, but they immediately snapped back open in alarm at the sound of a new voice.

Their sweet reunion had unfortunately been interrupted by the search crew.

"Master Sage, we found this in your witch's bedroom. We believe that she has secretly been practicing magic."

Meredith looked up in horror as she saw a male vampire hold up the cauldron that was filled with what was slowly becoming the potion she had been making for her, Bonnie, and Elena.

Sage looked alarmed as he looked from it to her.

"Meredith….what is that?"

For once, she was speechless.

* * *

**Elena**

Elena bit her lip as she waited outside Stefan's quarters.

Stefan had promised her that he would come out and explain everything to her as soon as he was done helping the search crew inspect his quarters. Now all she could do was wait.

"Why hello Elena. Thought you would never see me again, didn't you?"

Elena's azure eyes widened at the sound of that achingly familiar voice. She quickly spun around, only to come face to face with her arch nemesis from back at the clan, Caroline Forbes.

"Caroline?!"

Caroline only smiled, her cat-like green eyes lit up in amusement.

"We're going to be seeing a lot of each other for now on."

* * *

**A/N: Review for a sneak peek!**

**Yes, this chapter was kind of a filler, and short. Not a lot of romance. It was mainly just written to set up a lot of future plot bunnies. But I hope it was okay.**

**The reason Caroline is here will be brought up in the next chapter, but some of you might be able to already guess. But remember, I have no intention of making Klaroline a legit thing in this story. Klaus will not be falling in love with anyone.**

**So Damon finally told Bonnie why he chose her. So sweet…wasn't it? ;)**

**And now Sage knows Meredith's secret…or is about to find out *Gasp* How do you think he'll react?**

**See you guys next time! Thanks for reading :)**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

**Reponses to anonymous reviews:**

**Exotic Eyes: Yes she is ;) Caroline is up to no good. Glad you liked the Damon and Bonnie stuff. Thanks for reviewing! :)**

**Ava: Thank you! :)**

**Morangitta: Wow, that is a amazing compliment. It made me smile. Thanks so much! :)**

**BabyA: Thanks! :)**

**TeenageVampyre: LOL. Sorry about that XD Thanks for reviewing :)**

**Guest: Guessing that's a good thing? LOL. Thanks for the review :)**

**SAMANTHALOVE: Sorry for keeping you in suspense. But I hope you like this chapter. Thanks :)**

**Gymnast26: Thank you! And I'm glad :)**

**Rainbow: Thanks! :)**

**Guest: Aww really? It personally isn't my favorite chapter, but I'm really glad you liked it. Thank you :)**

**Sinthuya: Sorry for keeping you in suspense. Thanks for the review, and you will see what happens with Meredith in this chapter :)**

**Alexis: Thanks for making me smile like a idiot,..again :) And I get giddy every time I WRITE Bamon scenes, so I'm glad you get giddy reading them hehe. Thank you so much for your continued support :)**

**Guest: Sorry! And I will give you one hint….Damon and Stefan react a bit different at the news then Sage does. You'll see it in this chapter :)**

**Guest: Thanks! :)**

**Mareesha: Klaus is using Caroline in a grand scheme of his ;) No romance there. And yes, Caroline is supposed to seem like a bit of a nutcase in this XD Thanks! :)**

* * *

Bonnie's POV

"So what is it about the holiday season that is essential to you, little bird?"

I giggled as I snuggled further into him, burying my face in his neck as I sat in his lap.

"I'm not sure…it's just always put me in a happy mood, I guess." I took my face away from his neck to beam up into his eyes. "One of the reasons back home was because it was the one time of the year where my family completely dropped their business affairs and just…spent time together….."

My voice trailed off when I sensed it was becoming a little sad as I talked about my family. Though I was no longer unhappy about living here with Damon, I missed them…a lot.

Damon frowned a little at how quiet I had gotten, but before he could say a word about it, the door to the quarters swung open, making a load clanging noise as it hit the wall roughly.

Elena then stood in the doorway, her normally neat golden hair was frazzled, and she had an uncharacteristic look of terror in her eyes.

"What?" Damon snapped, clearly annoyed at the interruption.

Elena ignored him completely, and turned her gaze onto me. "Bonnie…can I talk to you? Alone", she said bitingly.

I looked towards Damon, giving him a pleading look. "Please? I'll come right back."

He sighed, but nodded, and I smiled at him. "Thank you", I said gratefully, kissing him on the cheek before getting off his lap and following Elena out the door.

Once we were outside the quarters, she led me to a deserted part of the hallway, a decent distance away from Damon, and then turned towards me frantically, speaking in a quick whisper.

"Bonnie….Sage _found out."_

I froze as her words hit me in full force. Sage had found out about Meredith making the potion?! How?! When?! And right after all three of us agreed to just drop the plan?

The images of what the consequences of this secret reveal could mean swirled through my mind. Would Damon and Stefan find out soon as well? Would all three of us be punished for attempting to "ruin the mission"? Would they wipe our memories of the mission since we weren't supposed to know about it? Would Damon, Stefan, and Sage stop letting us use magic?

Or…I gulped a little. What if the royals got involved and we had far worse consequences?

"How did he find out?" I blurted fearfully, and Elena gave me a stern look, telling me to keep my voice down.

"King Christian ordered to have the entire castle searched for suspicious behavior or items after what happened to Sage. And one of the searchers found the potion while going through Sage's quarters."

I looked down, more and more fear seeping through my entire being. "This is bad…._really _bad."

* * *

**Meredith**

Meredith watched in horrified silence as Sage conversed with King Christian over the discovery of the potion.

She was afraid…for many reasons. Afraid for what might happen to her, Elena, and Bonnie now that the vampires knew they were aware of the mission, and that any speck of trust she and Sage had built for each other might have just been destroyed.

She inwardly cringed when she remembered the utter sadness the golden-eyed vampire/witch hybrid had displayed when she had finally told him the truth.

* * *

_"Meredith…what is that?"_

_ She sighed and looked down. It was now or never. Even if she could somehow lie her way out of this, it was time to come clean._

_ She looked him straight in the eye. "If I explain, will you promise to listen to the whole story before you react?"_

_ After a moment, Sage silently, though reluctantly nodded, and Meredith breathed in a small intake of breath as she prepared to finally spill._

_ "I overheard King Christian during one of his meetings with Stefan, and found out about the mission." A lie, of course. The truth was that it had been Elena who overheard King Christian talking to Stefan. She felt guilty for lying, once again, to Sage, but she couldn't tell him the truth while the other vampires were watching. She had to put protecting Bonnie and Elena first. _

_ "After I heard them talking about it, I was, at first, horrified at the idea." She shot Sage an apologetic look. "I treasure your friendship Sage, and I even did back then, but you have to understand how frightened I was back then. I had been forced from my home, and engaged to someone from a species that I once thought were monsters, and I had my best friends to protect. So I managed to sneak the book out of the library, and found the ingredients to make that potion…so we would become infertile and not able to have children."_

_ She had left out the part about how easy making the potion was, due to Sage allowing her to use magic, in order to protect him, knowing that it had been against the rules._

_ Her dark grey eyes then took on a barely noticeable look of pleading. "But I swear, I was going to get rid of the potion today anyway. Earlier when Elena and I were visiting Bonnie, I noticed that they seemed happier with Damon and Stefan, and I decided to drop the plan. That IS the truth."_

_ "So the other witches…they knew nothing about this plan of yours?" The woman vampire in the room questioned flatly._

_ Meredith shook her head. "I never told them anything about it", she lied smoothly._

_ "I see. Well then. I will fetch King Christian. He and Master Sage will decide on the appropriate punishment for your actions."_

_ With that, the small group of vampires left, leaving Meredith and Sage alone in the room._

_ Now that they had privacy, Meredith gently though firmly reached over to grip his hand, her grey eyes looking into his gold ones intently."_

_ "I'm sorry Sage…for betraying your trust. But you know how protective I am of Bonnie and Elena….I will always do anything I can to protect them." She looked down at the ground a bit shamefully. "But I meant what I said. I treasure out friendship. And I can only hope that this won't permanently ruin it." She looked back up at him, a small spark of questioning hope in her eyes. _

_ And…he said nothing. He only looked at her blankly, before moving away from her, forcing her to let go of his hand. _

_ "Sage?" She questioned softly, still standing in her place._

_ Again, no response._

_ "Sage…please say something."_

_ Still….nothing._

* * *

And now she was standing there watching Sage and King Christian discuss her "punishment", and so far, during the whole thing, Sage hadn't glanced at her once, and other then a few mentions of "the witch", he didn't acknowledge her existence.

It gave her a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had almost wished he had at least angrily exploded at her. This chilling silence was almost more unnerving then any angry rant he could have thrown at her.

Finally, King Christian turned towards her, grabbing her arm. "Come. Your fiancé and I have come to an agreement on the terms of your punishment."

Meredith chanced one last glance at Sage, but he had his back turned towards her, still not saying a word.

With a sad sigh of defeat, she allowed King Christian to drag her from the room, and mentally prepared herself for whatever punishment was in store for her.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

"You can't come in."

I watched as Elena glared slightly at the female vampire, one of her feet subtly tapping down and off the guard. "And why not?"

The tall, dark haired vampire signed, looking down at us with her steely, stern eyes. "She has only been in lockdown for a few minutes. We will not allow her any visitors until at least an hour has passed."

We were attempting to get into the "Detention Center", which was supposedly, according to Stefan, where Meredith was taken due to her being caught with the potion.

Based on what we heard, "The Detention Center" was sort of like the castle's jail, making us even more worried about our friend's well-being.

"Please?" I begged silently, finally stepping up to stand right next to Elena. "She's our friend, and….we are worried about her. Could we please go inside, if only for a few minutes? We promise not to tell anyone if you do. Right Elena?"

Elena nodded silently, confirming my claim.

The female vampire sighed again, shaking her head. "I apologize, but I cannot possibly…"

"You DO know who my friend here is, right?" Elena suddenly interrupted, surprising me by pointing her finger at me.

The vampire frowned. "I am well aware of who both you girls are. Witches sent here to marry…."

"But", Elena cut off again, as politely as person interrupting someone could, "She is Damon Salvatore's fiancé. And since he gave her permission to come visit Meredith. Do you think he would be happy with you denying her wish?"

I knew exactly what Elena was up to. Damon…tended to have quite the reputation. Not only back home, but here as well. Everyone knew him for his power and placement in terms of importance to the royals.

And she was now obviously trying to use that to our advantage.

For a second, the vampire's eyes widened in fear, and to both of our surprises, her voice came out in a small stammer as her next words spilled out.

"I am sure Mr…Mr. Salvatore is well aware of the….rules we have here."

"I don't know", I responded, giggling a bit in nervousness at the intensity. "Damon….Damon tends to be a rule breaker."

From the corner of my eye, I could see Elena raise her eyebrows at me, but I tried to ignore it.

After a few moments of silence, the vampire wordlessly and reluctantly sighed. "As you wish. But if I do this, both of you must swear to not speak a word of it to anyone. Understood?"

This time she spoke with the same coldness she had spoken to us when we first asked to go in and visit Meredith, and I gulped. "We understand."

And with that being said, the vampire finally moved aside, unlocking the door behind her after looking around briefly to make sure no one else was around to see, and gestured at us to follow her as she opened it.

She led us through the door, and instantly, I took notice that the walls along the passages she was leading us through were painted b a very dark black, making whoever walked through it feel as consumed and trapped as possible.

Which, considering it was basically a prison, was probably the intentional effect.

After getting through the narrow, black hallway, I was relieved. The space around us was still extremely dark, but the narrow passage into it had made me feel like it was going to suddenly cave in on us.

But…this area didn't seem any more cheerful.

It wasn't that big, but the black walls were wide, and along them, metal bars were bolted into them to form cages.

And all of them were empty.

"Why is this place so…empty?" Elena asked, voicing my own thoughts.

The vampire's voice was monotone as she answered. "It's not common that we get prisoners. In fact, your little friend is the only one in here as of now."

I shivered a bit at the thought of Meredith being in this dark, lonely space all by herself.

After a few more moments of walking, we finally stopped at one of the barred cages, and I gasped as I saw a familiar figure hunched on the ground inside of it.

"Meredith!"

Both Elena and I rushed over to the barred, metal barrier, and gripped at it tightly.

Meredith slowly stood up at the sound of our voices, frowning as she came over to stand in front of us.

"What are you two doing here?"

"You have ten minutes", we heard the vampire say, before the sound of her retreating steps reached our ears.

After she was gone, we both looked frantically towards Meredith.

But before either of us could say anything, she spoke first.

"Listen to me…_both _of you. You are not to speak a word of this to Damon or Stefan. You know _nothing_ about it", Meredith said in a low, fearful whisper to us.

Elena's eyes widened. "But Meredith…."

Meredith cut her off again. "No, I will not have either of you taking any responsibility for this. It was all on me."

I was confused. Was she…trying to lie about it? To make it seem to the vampires that Elena and I had nothing to do with the potion plan?

"Meredith…but…what about the overheard conversation between Stefan and King Christian…."

She had obviously known what I had been about to say, because she cut us off again. "I told them the truth. That I overheard Stefan and King Christian talking about the mission."

When Elena opened her mouth to protest, Meredith waved her off and leaned down to whisper even lowlier, so lowly that we had to lean closer to hear her.

"I lied."

Both Elena and I knew better then to repeat what she said out load, knowing how potentially deadly the situation could be if the vampires ever found out she had deceived them.

"You need to go now," Meredith then said, calmly and rationally. "You can both visit me later."

"But"…..I began.

"And remember, do not tell Damon or Stefan about this," Meredith repeated and then walked away from us, going back to slump down on her place on the floor where we had seen her when we first came into the prison.

We stood there staring at her for a few more minutes before Elena sighed and grabbed my hand.

"Let's go Bonnie."

I looked at the silent, still form of Meredith one last time before I nodded, allowing Elena to lead me out of the dark space.

* * *

"I think we should tell them the truth….Stefan, Damon, and Sage," Elena suddenly said as we were walking down the corridors.

I turned towards her with surprise. "Meredith told us not to say anything."

She looked down. "I know. But….I don't think we would get in trouble If we're honest with them. I know they care about us. And even if it doesn't look like it now, Sage surely cares about Meredith."

Now that I thought about it, it wasn't fair for Meredith to take all of the blame for this; especially since she had mainly been making the potion for our sake.

I sighed and nodded. "You're right Elena. And….Meredith is always making sacrifices for us. Maybe it's time we did the same for her."

We finally neared the door to Damon's quarters. I began to grow a bit nervous. I had no idea how he was going to react to what I was going to tell him, but it needed to be done. For Meredith's sake. And….I was tired of keeping things from him anyway.

"Are you sure you want to do this alone? I can go in with you," Elena said as I was getting ready to open the door.

I nodded. "Yes. I can do it alone. You'll be able to tell Stefan alone too, right?"

"Of course." She then turned away and began to walk in the direction of Stefan's quarters. "Good luck Bonnie."

"Good luck to you too." And with that, I opened the door and stepped inside.

"Damon?" I looked around the lobby and kitchen, seeing him nowhere in sight. He must be somewhere upstairs.

I walked up the stairs and eventually found him in his study…the same room I had found the painting of him, Stefan, and Queen Drina.

He was sitting at his desk, writing something on a piece of parchment.

But as soon as he was able to sense that I was in the room, he looked up and stopped, swiftly putting whatever he was working on away.

I smiled softly at him. "What were you writing?"

"Nothing of importance," he answered causally, flashing me one of his 500 kilowatt smiles. "What did Elena wish to speak with you about?"

I paused. For a second, I considered to playfully press question about what he was writing just to buy myself some more time but I knew I had to get the conversation over with sooner or later.

_Please don't hate me_, I thought.

"Um…Damon, there's actually something I have to tell you," I said nervously.

He tilted his head to the side curiously. "What is it?"

I sighed, my breath coming out in uneven heaves. "Do…do you promise to listen to the whole story before you get mad?"

A flash of suspicion sparked in his eyes but he nodded in agreement.

"Thank you." I sat down in the chair across from him, taking a deep breath before beginning my story.

I told him about how terrified I was of him and the whole situation I was in when I was first brought here. I told him about how Elena had overheard Stefan and King Christian talking about the potion. And lastly, I explained how the three of us came up with the potion plan and that Meredith had taken all of the blame for it.

"But right before Meredith was caught with it, all three of us agreed to drop the plan, I swear," I pleaded, looking up at him. "We're happier here than we had been at the beginning. I wouldn't have even told you about it if Meredith wasn't in trouble…or if I didn't care about keeping secrets from you."

I then watched him silently and nervously, anticipating him reaction.

When he finally did speak, he sighed. "Redbird….I cannot say that I'm not displeased at this new information."

I winced a little at his answer.

"However, I understand the situation you had believed yourselves to be in," he continued in an almost gentle tone, obviously sensing how tense I was. "At the time you had thought you were in danger, so the three of you had acted accordingly to protect yourselves."

I felt him hand lightly cup my chin, making me look up into his black eyes.

"You know now that I would never harm you, correct?"

Though his tone implied that he was obviously going for a confident aura, I thought I could see hear a tint of almost timid uncertainty in his voice.

I smiled at him warmly, hoping to reassure him.

"Yes, I know that now. And thank you for not getting too upset with me."

He nodded and then pecked me on the lips. "I can sense that there is something else you would like to tell me."

"Um…." My mind scrambled for a good way to begin the question I wanted to ask him about Meredith but I decided to just wing it when I couldn't think of one. "Yes. Meredith….she's in the detention center. Elena and I feel terrible about it because she's in there all alone. Do you think you could do anything to get her out of there?"

Damon frowned. "It won't be easy to convince the royals to release her early."

"Oh." My heart sank.

"On the contrary, I can be very persuasive if I want to be."

My hope lit up again. "Thank you Damon!"

Taking him by surprise, I suddenly flung myself at him, kissing him heatedly on the lips.

After getting over his brief bewilderment, he instantly returned the kiss, wrapping his strong arms around me and pulling me closer.

We broke apart after a few more moments and I smiled gratefully at him again. "Thank you so much."

An uncharacteristic smile spread across his lips. "You're welcome, _mia bella uccellino rosso."_

* * *

**Elena's POV**

Elena sucked in a deep breath before opening the door of Stefan's quarters, sauntering reluctantly inside.

She wasn't looking forward to having to tell Stefan about the potion plan…even if they had decided to drop it literally moments before the officials had found it in Meredith's room.

Would Stefan believe that if she told him? Or would he finally agree with the other vampires on the fact that the three of them could not be trusted?

Only one way to find out….

Hesitantly, she knocked on his bedroom door and waited patiently for him to answer.

In seconds, he had, and his green eyes widened in surprise at the sight of her standing in the doorway.

"Elena…is there anything you need?"

Elena looked down at the ground a bit shamefully. "I have to tell you something."

"What is it?" He opened the door wider and stepped out, closing it behind him.

She bit her lip. How was she going to put this?

"Did you hear about what happened to Meredith?" She finally asked.

Stefan frowned. "Yes. But I don't know exactly why she was arrested." His expression turned gentle and apologetic. "Elena, if there is anything I could….."

She shook her head. "She was arrested because an incomplete potion was found in her room."

She closed her eyes for a moment before continuing. "An infertility potion."

A few silent moments ensued.

"You…you know about the mission then?" Stefan finally said.

Elena nodded. "I do. I overheard you and King Christian talking about it," she admitted guiltily.

He sighed. "Well, I know how you felt about me back then. And how you still probably feel about me….at least a little. I assume I can't really…."

"We were going to drop the plan," she said quickly. "I swear we were. And then literally right after all three of us agreed not to do it, the potion was found in Meredith's room."

When Stefan didn't say anything in reply this time, Elena grabbed one of his hands with two of hers, her lapis lazuli eyes looking intensely and seriously into his forest-green ones.

"Stefan, please listen to me. I may not have trusted you when I first came here but I do now. I love the fact that you always trusted me." She squeezed his hand. "I only hope that I haven't shattered that trust."

She searched his eyes and she could not find any emotion in them. No anger but no signs of forgiveness neither.

Then all at once, as if he had finally fully processed everything she had said, his green eyes swam with warmth once again.

"I forgive you." He wrapped his arms around her.

Elena sighed in relief and let herself fall into his arms, planting a kiss on his lips.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

After telling Damon and Stefan the truth, Elena and I had met up again in the hallways to go and visit Sage.

We were going to try to convince him to forgive Meredith. Damon was already working on getting her out of the detention center but we now wanted to make Sage see that Meredith hadn't truly wanted to deceive him.

One of the reasons we decided to give up the plan was because we saw how miserable doing it was making Meredith. But she had planned on finishing the potion for our sake. Now it was our turn to do something for her.

I watched as Elena softly but firmly knocked on the door to Sage's quarters.

No answer came after nearly five minutes of trying.

"Maybe he's not here?" I suggested.

Elena shook her head. "He is. He just refuses to answer."

She knocked on the door again, this time, more loudly.

And this time, to my relief, the door swung open.

The usually care-free and friendly face that answered, however, did not look at all happy to see us standing in his doorway.

"_Merde, _what are you girls doing here?"

"We need to talk to you," Elena replied firmly. "May we come in?"

"What is it that you want to talk about?" He replied tonelessly, completely ignoring Elena's last question.

I was nervous. This version of Sage seemed unfriendly and maybe even a little…cold. A fine contrast to how he usually was. I wasn't quite sure how to begin.

"It's about Meredith," I replied quietly. "We…we heard about what happened."

His gold eyes widened. "You have?" He paused, as if he hadn't expected the new to spread so quickly, before he shook his head, moving to shut the door on us.

"Then I suggest you two go visit her and ask about it yourselves."

He was just about to shut the door but Elena stuck her foot into it, shooting him a stern look.

"We already know all about it. We were a part of it."

Sage titled his head. "She said you two had nothing to do with it."

"She lied."

"And before you say anything, we already confessed to Damon and Sage, but that's not why we're here", I supplied. "Please Sage. Can we come inside and talk?"

Elena and I had practiced what we were going to say to him multiple times on our way here but we hadn't expected to have to deal with the cold, impatient Sage standing in front of us. What were we going to do if he simply refused to let us talk to him?"

He sighed and to my surprise, he opened the door wider to let us in.

"You have ten minutes."

We both nodded and hurried inside and he firmly shut the door behind us.

"Now, what is it exactly you wish to tell me about Meredith?"

We both looked down at our feet briefly before looking back up at him.

"It's about the potion. Meredith hadn't really wanted to go through with it at the end, but she did it for us," I began.

Sage's eyes narrowed. "She told me and the officials that you two had nothing to do with it," he repeated, as if he hadn't believed us the first time.

"She lied to protect us," Elena said softly. "The truth is….Meredith has feelings for you, even if she won't admit it. But she's always been loyal and protective towards us. By the end of it, the only reason she was continuing it at all was for our sake. We could tell."

"And right before the potion was found, we agreed to not go through with the plan anyway," I insisted.

He had to believe us. He had to forgive Meredith and get her out of that awful prison.

Sage didn't say anything at first and his eyes were assessing us, as if trying to detect any signs of lying.

I wish we could see some sort of emotion from him, some sign that showed he was taking what we said to heart but his expression was as cold as stone.

"I believe you two should get back to your quarters."

"But…" Elena began.

"Now. I need time to think things over," he said flatly, opening the door for us.

Dejectedly and reluctantly, we both walked out the door and instantly, the door shut behind us.

"What should we do now?" I asked, turning towards Elena.

"I think we should just wait for him to come to a decision and hope for the best."

I nodded glumly in agreement. There wasn't much more we could do at this point.

We walked together for a few more moments before we came to the door that led to Stefan's quarters.

Elena turned towards me one last time before going inside, her hand gripping the doorknob.

"Is Damon going to go see King Christian?"

"Yes. He told me he would try to convince them to let Meredith go."

Elena nodded nervously. "I hope he's successful with it."

I knew the power of that statement. Judging from how little Sage had reacted to what we told him, he wouldn't be trying to get Meredith out of the detention center any time soon.

Ultimately, it was most likely up to Damon to persuade them.

"I hope so too."

Elena nodded again and opened the door. "Well, goodnight Bonnie."

"Goodnight Elena."

And with that, she went inside and shut the door, leaving me alone in the looming hallway.

I sighed and began to walk towards Damon's quarters.

Was he back from visiting with King Christian yet? And if he wasn't, would I still be able to get inside.

_ Of course, _I reassured myself. _He wouldn't have locked you out._

I walked at an even pace towards the quarters when a familiar voice sounded and stopped me in my tracks.

"Bonnie!"

I wheeled around and my jaw dropped a fraction at the sight of Caroline Forbes walking down the hallway and towards me.

Her auburn hair was placed in a long ponytail and her cat-like green eyes were filled with spooky determination.

What was she doing here?

"Hi Caroline," I responded hesitantly, narrowing my eyes at her. "Wh…what are you doing here?'

She shrugged casually, a smug smile on her face. "Didn't you hear? I'm officially engaged."

"You mean…engaged to a vampire?!"

"Yes. It looks like you three won't be the only ones receiving the attention this time."

I gaped at her. Who was she engaged to and when had this decision been made?

"But who are you…."

She waved me off. "It doesn't matter." She then quickly looked around, as if making sure no one else was around.

"Listen Bonnie, I want to talk to you about something."

"About what?"

She grinned at me. "I heard about who you're engaged to. The infamous Damon Salvatore."

It was no surprise that Caroline remembered the name. Damon was talked about a lot back home.

I nodded. "Yep." I was proud of myself for managing to speak in a flat tone.

She cocked her head to the side. "And aren't you unhappy about that?"

What was she up to?

"At first I was, but I'm not anymore," I replied truthfully, trying to move past her.

Caroline had never liked me, Elena, or Meredith back at home. So the fact that she was trying so hard to talk to me was suspicious at the most.

She stepped in front of me, preventing me from escaping.

"Come on Bonnie. I just want to talk to my old friend."

"We were never friends," I stated cautiously. "You hated me. You hated all three of us."

She shrugged casually. "Well, maybe I want to start over."

I ignored her and tried to move past her again, but this time, a hand suddenly clamped around my wrist…hard. And it was a hand far too large and rough to be Caroline's.

I turned around and gasped when I saw Klaus's pale face.

He smiled charmingly at me and I winced a little when his hand's grip around my wrist tightened as he pulled me closer.

"Little Bonnie. Are you choosing to simply ignore my new fiancé?"

My eyes widened as I turned towards Caroline. "HE'S your fiancé?"

She rolled her eyes. "I think that is what he just said."

Caroline was marrying Klaus? But how? Why? Had King Christian demanded another marriage from the clan?

"I….I have to go." I tried to move away again but Klaus pulled me back, his painful grip on my wrist not loosening in the slightest.

"Now Bonnie, I am very quickly beginning to lose my patience…."

"Klaus." A familiar voice growled.

I wheeled around and sighed with relief. "Damon."

Damon made no gesture to show that he heard me say his name. His midnight eyes, filled with fury, were completely focused on Klaus. "Let go of her."

With a shrug, Klaus did as he said. Rubbing my sore wrist, I then ran to Damon's side and he wrapped an arm around me, holding me to him protectively.

Klaus eyed us curiously. "I must say Damon; I'm mildly impressed that you seem to show up every time your little damsel in distress is in need of you." He took a step closer, a smug smile crossing his lips. "Almost as if the two of you were blood bonded."

I couldn't help but gulp. Though I had forgiven Damon for forcing me to exchange blood with him, the memory still wasn't exactly pleasant.

Klaus's smile widened at the sound I made. "Which is precisely the case, isn't it? You have exchanged blood with her."

Even Caroline, who hadn't said a word since Damon's arrival, let out a small gasp at this. "She didn't."

I guess even Caroline, who from the looks of things, was already proud of the idea of marrying a vampire still found the idea of exchanging blood with one appalling.

Damon's glare increased and one of his hands began to rub my back soothingly. "That is none of your concern. Now take your witch and clear out of here."

Klaus continued, as if Damon hadn't spoken at all. "She is so sweet and innocent. I bet her blood would just taste….delicious. Among other aspects of her as well."

He then eyed me hungrily, like a wild wolf would his dinner.

I whimpered a bit in discomfort. Before I could say anything in response, Damon, out of nowhere, lunged at Klaus, slamming him against a wall.

"Damon!" I exclaimed but he paid me no mind.

His dark eyes were looking furiously into Klaus's blue ones.

"Listen here and listen good _bastardo. _You are not to come near her again. You will not touch her, you will not talk to her, and you will not even _think_ about her. I will not hesitate to finally end you otherwise."

Klaus continued to smile but his eyes now held a hint of mischievousness instead of hunger. "Is that a challenge?"

Snarling, their predator modes coming out, they sprang away from the wall, their grips on each other not loosening.

Caroline screamed and ran over to Klaus, trying to get his attention, but he merely shoved her away.

I ran up to Damon and placed my hand in his arm, hoping to somehow calm him down. "Damon, please. Let's just go back to the quarters. He's not worth it."

Thankfully, my words seemed to have gotten through to him and he backed away from Klaus, grabbing my hand gently.

"This isn't over," he said softly to Klaus, his anger still radiating from him in waves.

Klaus continued to smile. "I should hope not."

With one last glare at Klaus, Damon finally turned away, gently leading me the rest of the way down the hallway.

* * *

"Damon, you shouldn't let him get to you like that," I said matter-of-factly as we walked into the quarters.

He shook his head. "Until he stays away from you, I cannot let my guard down. He could hurt you, redbird." He looked down at my wrist. "He already hurt you, didn't he?'

I smiled sheepishly and softly rubbed at my sore wrist.

"Only a little."

"It shouldn't have happened at all," he shot back, gesturing at me to sit down on one of the armchairs.

I did what he wanted and he flashed to the kitchen, coming back with a leather pouch of ice.

I smiled gratefully at him as he handed it to me, placing it on my wrist. "Thanks."

He nodded mutely and sat down in his usual place in the armchair across from mine.

I closed my eyes in content. The ice did help numb the soreness. I looked up at him again.

"How did your meeting with King Christian go?"

I was praying that his response would be a positive one.

His expression turned apprehensive, as if he had forgotten about the meeting before I brought it up.

"He agreed to release her tonight. On one condition."

My eyes widened. "What condition?"

"Sage does not wish to have her back in his quarters just yet. In the meantime, she will be under my watch. She'll be staying here."

* * *

Later that night, Damon arrived back at the quarters with a tired Meredith in tow.

"Meredith," I said in a voice filled with relief, instantly engulfing her in a hug. "Are you okay?"

She nodded lightly, returning my hug. "I'm fine." She turned towards Damon. "Thank you for allowing me to stay here."

Damon only nodded and she looked at both of us.

"I'd like to go to bed. Is that alright?"

"Of course," I replied. "Goodnight Meredith."

"Goodnight Bonnie." She allowed Damon to lead her up the stairs and to the guest room she would be staying in.

Moments later, Damon returned and I looked at him sadly. "Do you think Sage will ever forgive her?"

I wasn't completely clueless. I knew that the real reason for Meredith's sadness was that Sage had refused to let her back into his quarters.

"Eventually. Sage has never been one to hold grudges. It's only a matter of when."

"Good."

He must have noticed my sadness at the situation because he cleared his throat.

"I have news that might make both you and Meredith feel better."

My eyebrows rose. "Really? What is it?"

"How do you feel about the idea of going back to your clan to see your family on Christmas?"

I froze in shock. "You didn't…."

He smirked. "I may have convinced King Christian of a few other things on my visit."

Tears of joy blurred my vision. I was going to see my family again. And on Christmas, my favorite holiday, no less.

I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist in a tight hug.

"Thank you so much."

* * *

**A/N: Did you guys miss me? I know that it's been over two months since I last updated this story, and for that I'm extremely lame for that. *Hangs head in shame*. I've been extremely busy, and this chapter was a BITCH to write. But I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless. **

**So….Team Meredith or Team Sage? And do you think Sage will forgive her? Though I do understand Sage's side, I'm personally on Team Meredith ;)**

**What do you think Klaus and Caroline are up to? (Hint: Damon and Klaus have a very hate-filled past that led to their current conflict.)**

**And btw, I know I've been extremely neglectful to Elena lately. Bonnie has the whole SL with Klaus mysteriously stalking her and Meredith has the potion drama with Sage but Elena hasn't had much of a SL ever since she decided Stefan wasn't a monster. But she will get a angsty SL in the next chapter.**

**One last note: For anyone who didn't get sneak peeks on the last chapter, I'M EXTREMELY sorry. For some reason, hasn't been emailing me review alerts. -_- So if you don't get a sneak peek sometime this week for this chapter, and you reviewed, send me a PM to tell me and I will happily send you one.**

**Review for a sneak peek! :)**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

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* * *

Bonnie's POV

"Meredith," I said softly, as I attempted to shake her awake. "Meredith, we have to get up."

It had been a few weeks since Damon had made that deal with King Christian and Meredith had come to stay with us in Damon's quarters. And in those few weeks, we hadn't seen a single sighting of Sage.

When I had secretly taken Damon aside and asked him where Sage was, he had said that it had something to do with his parents, King Christian and Queen Drina. I had gotten a little frustrated, because it had seemed like he had known more than what he was letting on and just wasn't telling me, but when I voiced this to him, he had merely kissed me on the lips and reassured me that he would tell me if anything important was going on.

In the end, he had to it so sincerely that I had decided to believe him.

Meredith slowly opened her eyes groggily, sighing as she caught sight of my anxious eyes, and sat up in the bed.

"What is it Bonnie?"

I almost wanted to jump up and down with excitement.

"It's Christmas! And Damon said we're all going to exchange gifts! Come on!"

I refrained from telling her about what Damon had done got us and and that we were going going to go visit our families in just a few short hours. I wanted it to be a surprise for both her and Elena.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, after getting dressed, we found ourselves sitting in the dining hall with Damon, Elena, Stefan, and…..Sage.

I quickly looked towards Meredith, wanting to see her reaction at seeing him, and….she didn't show any emotion at the sight of him, none at all. Either she had simply numbed her feelings for the last few weeks, or she was just really good at hiding them.

We all sat down at the same table, and Damon shot me a small, secret smile, which I happily retuned.

Stefan cleared his throat a bit awkwardly. "Well….Merry Christmas."

It was obvious that all three of the vampires hadn't celebrated Christmas before, or at least not in a very long time.

Elena's eyes narrowed a fraction when the three of them pulled out small, wrapped boxes from underneath the table.

"We weren't able to get you any gifts…."

Stefan smiled warmly at her, shaking his head. "We know, and we don't mind. This is your holiday, after all."

They then handed each of us a box, Sage handed Meredith one, Stefan handed Elena one, and Damon handed me on.

The wrapped, red box with a small green bow on top of it was wrapped so beautifully and delicately that I almost felt sad at having to ruin it by unwrapping it.

As careful as I could, I unwrapped the little box and opened the lid of it. I ended up gasping at what I saw inside it.

Inside the box, was a beautiful ring. It was sporting a large diamond in the middle and the area around the diamond had a circle of tiny rubies and a jewel I couldn't quite recognize bordering it.

The band was gold and on the outside of it, there was an inscription that read: _Ti amo, mio piccolo Uccello._

At that moment, I was too happy and excited to stop and ask him what the inscription meant. I could always ask him later. I reasoned.

Without saying a word, I simply leaned over, grabbing his face with my small hands and kissed him soundly.

I kept it short, my cheeks already flushing a bit at the fact that the action had taken place in front of both my best friends, and Stefan and Sage.

Damon's dark eyes were twinkling in amusement. "Well, that was a pleasant surprise."

I beamed. "Thank you. For the ring, I mean."

"You're quite welcome, my little bird."

I looked over and saw that Elena and Meredith had also received rings and were already wearing them proudly.

Like I had with Damon, Elena gave Stefan a quick kiss as a sign of gratitude. As for Meredith, she just managed a small, somewhat awkward smile towards Sage.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Though it was faint, I thought I could hear at least a tiny tracve of his old warmness in his French accented voice.

For just a moment, he even smiled at Meredith before he gruffly cleared his throat and looked away again.

Breaking my concentration away from them as to not stare, I turned back towards Damon. "Damon, aren't you going to tell them the other part of the surprise?"

He grinned at me. "Why don't you do the honors?"

I nodded quickly and excitedly, turning towards my friends.

"We get to go back to the clan and visit our families today."

Both of them froze but I could see the happiness in their eyes.

"How?" Elena burst out.

I smiled and pointed at Damon. "Damon convinced King Christian and Queen Drina to let him take us."

Both of their eyes shifted to Damon in utter surprise.

"Is this true?" Meredith asked warily.

Damon shot them his 500 kilowatt smile at them, the same smile that never ceased to make my heart flutter in my chest, though I would never admit it out load.

"Of course it is. One of my many attributes is my uncanny ability of persuasion."

* * *

About thirty minutes later, all of us packed into the backseat of a carriage, with a personal driver sitting in the front seat by himself.

As the carriage began to move, I tried not to fidget too much in my seat, but it proved to br a little difficult. Every nerve in my body wanted to bounce up and down in anticipation.

In only a short amount of time, I would be seeing everyone again. My parents, Matt…..

Damon, who had been currently holding my hand, gave it a gentle squeeze.

"What's on your mind _Cara?"_

I turned to smile at him. "I'm just excited, that's all." I leaned up against him. "Thanks again for doing this. It means a lot to me."

"It was my pleasure." He planted a kiss on top of my head.

My smile widened even more if that was possible, and I snuggled further into him as his arms wrapped around me.

That is, until his next words dropped a huge truth bomb on me.

"What do you plan to tell your family about us?" He asked suddenly, one of his fingers crossing over the beautiful engagement ring that now sat on my finger.

But I knew he was talking about more than just the ring.

My mind frantically went over his question, searching for an answer.

The last time I had seen my family we had all been fully of sadness and fear at our fayte….pur duty to marry vampires.

But now, things were very different. How would my family react to my whole new perception to marrying Damon? Or the fact that I was happily wearing an engagement ring?

When I finally had my answer, I looked back up at him. "I'm going to tell them that I _want_ to marry you. And that now, I wouldn't change my future even if I could."

His eyebrows rose in surprise. "I wasn't aware you felt that way."

I nodded. "I really do feel that way Damon. I….." I broke off, not really sure as to where I wanted this to lead. "I…I really do want to marry you now," I finally finished. "You've been so good to me lately, with helping Meredith and finding a way to allow us to see our families for Christmas. And….I have feelings for you."

It was true that I wasn't exactly sure how strong these feelings were, but I did know that it went far beyond a simple attraction or crush.

Damon seemed to be casually observing me for a few moments before shrugging, the flirtatious smile I had grown to love reappearing on his face.

"And I am eternally grateful of that fact."

* * *

When the carriage finally parked outside the gates that led to the massive village that was our old clan, Elena, Meredith, it was all I could do to not leap out of it and run inside.

"We've reached the destination," the carriage driver said flatly, as if we hadn't already known that.

Damon was the first to exit the carriage and once he was on the ground, he reached up to take my hand again.

I gratefully took his and and in seconds, he helped me down large steps of the carriage.

When I looked at the others, I saw that Elena was also holding Stefan's hand. Meredith and Sage, as I predicted, were not, and instead, only walked side-by-side, neither of them even glancing at the other.

After finally situating ourselves, we all walked in the direction of the gates.

"What is your agenda?" A voice that I recognized as Gibson, the clan's gate-keeper, called out.

"Damon Salvatore," Damon answered back. "I have along with me Bonnie McCullough, Elena Gilbert, and Meredith Sulez. We are here to pay a visit to the royal families."

At the back of my mind, I briefly wondered why he hadn't mentioned Stefan or Sage's names. But in the end, I figured it was because Damon had such high authority that Stefan and Sage would just be automatically let in if he wanted it.

There was a slight hesitation, probably in result of fear in hearing Damon's name and voice, but eventually, in a timid voice, Gibson replied.

"I will open the gates for you."

In seconds, he did just that, and we all easily walked through them.

I looked around at our surroundings, unshed tears shining in my eyes. We were back in our village. The same one all three of us had grown up in.

It looked deserted at the moment, with all of the shops and businesses closed and people no doubt all back home and celebrating Christmas with their families, but it was still our old village, nonetheless.

I hadn't realized how home-sick I had been until this very moment.

When we reached the crossroads of the different paths that led to each of the royal houses, Elena, Meredith, and I all three looked towards each other.

It was time to separate and go to our own houses and our own families.

"I hope you both have a nice time. Savor it," Meredith whispered as we all three group-hugged. "And I will see you both when it's time to head back."

Elena and I both nodded and after saying a few more goodbyes, we went down the different paths, with Elena holding Stefan's hand and Sage and Meredith merely walking beside each other, a few feet apart.

I sighed softly at them before my smile reappeared and I reattached my hand to Damon's as we walked down my house's path.

"So…are you just going to hang around me and my family until it's time to go back?" I suddenly asked, giggling at little at the thought.

Damon shrugged. "I suppose so." He then turned to face me directly, a small hint of concern crossing his features. "Unless that would bring you discomfort…."

"Oh no!" I interrupted quickly, shaking my head. "Well, I mean….I guess it is going to be kind of strange at first but I just need to explain it all to them. I'm sure they will understand." _At least, I hope they will_, I thought to myself.

Damon smiled an amused fashion at my insistence. "Then I will stay."

"Good."

I huddled a bit closer to him as we continued to walk.

It was snowing a little and it was cold enough that I could see my breath coming out in small puffs as we walked. It had obviously been snowing a lot harder earlier, since I could feel and hear the crunching of snow and ice beneath our feet.

As we neared the huge, familiar manor that was my old house, I sucked in a deep breath.

"Here we go."

I knocked on the oak wood door and bated my breath as we waited for someone to answer.

Damon squeezed my hand again softly, obviously trying to offer me a sense of comfort, and I was grateful for it.

Finally the door swung open and tears threatened to fall from my eyes at the sight of my mother standing in the doorway.

"Hi mom."

"Bonnie!" Without wasting a single second, she pulled me into her warm arms, too enthralled to even notice that Damon had been standing beside me…so far.

"My little girl….my baby," my mother murmured, a small amount of tears slipping out of her eyes as she held me to her. "I missed you."

A few tears of happiness slipped from my own eyes. "I missed you too."

She then kissed the top of my head. "What are you doing here?"

And here it comes….

I backed away from her, looking up at her with a serious expression. "Mom…did you notice who was with me?"

It was then that she finally looked up and acknowledged Damon. "Oh!"

I forced a smile. "This is Damon….my fiancé. He was the one who let me come back here for Christmas."

An awkward silence passed over us.

But eventually Damon, being the natural charmer he was, shot my mother his signature Don Juan smile and took her hand in his, kissing it.

"It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Mrs. McCullough."

I could tell from my mother's stiffness that she was anything but pleased at meeting Damon, but being the humble woman she was, and no doubt terrified of what he could possibly do, she forced a small smile.

"The pleasure is all mine as well, Mr.…..Salvatore?"

Damon nodded in confirmation. "That will do."

My mother cleared her throat, stepping aside to allow us room to enter the manor. "Would you like to come inside?'

A small surge of annoyance passed through me at hearing hr emotionless tone. Only a few moments ago, she had been crying with happiness at seeing me and now she was acting like I wasn't even there.

But I tried to quench the feeling and reminded myself that she was most likely scared….she still knew Damon as the blood thirsty, infamous vampire. She didn't know him like I did now.

Wordlessly, Damon and I took her invitation and entered the house. In a spurge of rebelliousness, I surprised Damon by grabbing his hand again, holding it as we walked further into my old home.

From the corner of my eye, I could see my mother eyeing our locked hands warily as she trailed behind us.

"Bonnie?"

I looked sharply to the side at the sound of the voicer, and beamed happily. "Matt!"

Momentarily letting go of Damon's hand again I rushed towards my friend, throwing my arms around him.

Matt's strong arms wrapped tightly around me as he hugged me back and he closed his eyes. "I thought I would never see you again."

"I'm here," I murmured, as if to somehow reassure him.

When we parted, we simply stood there and smiled at each other.

"What are you doing here?" It suddenly dawned on me that he was currently standing in my old house on Christmas. "Why aren't you with your own family?"

"I was at my house earlier. I came over here to help your parents out with shoveling the snow off their garden, and they invited me in for a mug of cocoa." His blue eyes assessed me again, as if to make sure I was real. "And it's a good thing they did. Or I would have missed your visit."

I continued to smile. "I agree."

The sound of someone purposely coughing caught my attention, and I looked towards Damon. Though it wouldn't have been noticeable to people who didn't know him well, I could see the mild irritation in his eyes.

I suddenly remembered back to my first days at the castle, when Damon had read the letter I sent to Matt and got me to admit that I had a crush on him. Though I no longer had any romantic feelings for Matt, hugging him and smiling at him like this was probably bringing back Damon's old jealousy.

I casted a brief, quick apologetic smile at Damon, but then reattached my gaze to Matt. For now, Damon would have to tough it out. If he was mad about it later, we could talk. But for now, I wanted to reunite and spend time with my friend and family before I had to leave again.

"Bonnie? How about we all head into the dining room? Your father is there helping prepare the kitchen for Christmas dinner, and I'm sure he'll be just as excited as I was to see you," my mother said.

I turned to nod at her. "That would be great."

* * *

**Sage**

The golden-eyed vampire/warlock hybrid stood silently on the porch of the house, fully prepared and satisfied with the idea of just staying out there until Meredith was ready to go home.

Meredith. The mere action of thinking about her sent Sage through a spur of emotions….most of them angry, but a lot of longing as well.

He missed her. He missed their lessons of her teaching him more about his warlock heritage. He missed waking up in the morning to eat breakfast with her early, before anyone else had even entered the dining hall. And he even missed the small things, like how she would stare at him questionably with her silver eyes when he said something that confused her, or how he would call her little nicknames in French, where she couldn't understand them. It was all he could do to not hold her hand, or kiss her while they had been walking alone together to her family's house.

But as much as he missed her, he wasn't sure if he was ready to ask her to move back into his quarters.

The sting of her betrayal was still very apparent. And though he wasn't exactly sure if his anger was mainly directed at her for committing the act, or at himself for blindly allowing her to make a potion that would have ruined the mission right in his own quarters, he wasn't sure. However, he was afraid of himself when he was in this mood…afraid of what he could possibly do. That was why he figured it would be best for him to keep his distance from Meredith…as much as he hadn't wanted to.

The sound of the front door of the house opening broke the hybrid out of his thoughts, and he turned to see who had come outside.

It was Meredith.

He forced himself not to look her fully in the eye. "Are you done with your visit? Already?"

"No," she answered flatly in a voice full of authority. "But they're eating right now, and I finished early. I figured I should come out and check on you while they finished their meal."

"Well, you have completed your goal. I am fine."

She didn't say anything for a few moments after that, but at the same time, she still made no move to go back inside the house.

With a sigh, he reluctantly looked her square in the eyes and opened his mouth to tell her to go back inside the house. But before he could get a word out, she beat him to it.

"Sage, we need to talk. I'm tired of you avoiding me."

He squared his jaw, his temper threatening to flare a bit at her demanding tone, but he tried to keep it tamed. "We did talk."

This time it was her time to sigh, but hers was in a flare of frustration…and even anger. "Hardly. You wouldn't even look at me that day the potion was discovered. You didn't even give me a fair chance to explain myself."

She was correct, of course. Even Sage could admit that he had been unfair to her that day. The initial pain he had felt at finding out Meredith had been using his trust in her to make a potion behind his back had momentarily blinded him. But at the same time, he wasn't ready to admit that.

"How about you take the opportunity now then? We are alone after all."

"Gladly." Meredith shifted her position slightly to make it easier to look him in the eyes the whole time as she spoke. "I've thought about this a lot during the last few weeks, and I felt pretty badly about it for the most part. But I've come to the realization that you have no right to be this angry at me."

That hadn't been what he had expected to hear. She must have seen the anger in his eyes, because she quickly continued. "Before you storm off, let me explain my reasoning."

"I don't regret trying to make the potion. I am sad that it hurt you and that I lost your trust in the process, but I don't regret it. And you know why? It was because I was doing it to protect Elena and Bonnie."

"Protect them from what exactly?"

"The mission. You have to understand that we were all three _scared _when we first showed up at the castle. When we found out about the mission, we didn't know if having the hybrid children would kill us, or anything about them. We were in a desperate situation. And Elena and Bonnie are my best friends….like my sisters. Are you telling me that if you, Damon, and Stefan were in a situation that you believed could end up being deadly for the three of you, you wouldn't have done anything in your power to protect them?"

She knew exactly how to get to him. There had been two things that had drawn Sage to Meredith Sulez from the very start: Her witchcraft, and her sense of reading people. It was something that they had in common. One of the _many _things that they had in common. And he already knew the answer to her question.

"Yes. I would have," he admitted, his tone sounding a bit defeated.

Meredith's eyebrows shot up, looking surprised that he had actually answered her question. "So you understand now why I did it then?"

Yes he did. But that didn't erase the sting he felt at the whole situation…no matter how much he wanted it to go away.

As if reading his thoughts, Meredith continued, with a slightly, hardly noticeable slump to her shoulders. "If you had listened to me that day back in the quarters, you would have known that I was going to get rid of the potion the very day it was discovered. While Elena and I were visiting Bonnie after she fell through the ice, we all three decided that we didn't need it anymore."

Now that definitely had his attention. His own eyebrows shot up in a questioning glance. "Didn't need it anymore? Why go through all of that careful planning only to throw it all away?"

An almost uncharacteristic grin crossed the Latina teen's face then. "Well…we all three decided that we kind of like you, Stefan, and Damon. And that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to stick around after all."

Despite his best efforts not to, Sage found him smiling at her in return.

Meredith glanced up at something above him, and pointed her finger at whatever it was. "Look above you."

He did as she requested and saw that there was a small bundle of mistletoe hanging right above them.

Meredith moved closer to him. "I suppose we'll have to respect the tradition. Shouldn't we?"

Without saying a single word to argue it, because secretly, he had been craving for a reason to do this for weeks now, Sage leaned down to press his lips to hers in a searing kiss.

The kiss probably lasted a bit more than he should have allowed it too, but he couldn't help himself, and he pulled her even closer to him, further deepening it.

When at last, they pulled back; Sage still kept his arms wrapped around her, his lips still only a fraction away from hers as he said his next words.

"I….apologize for avoiding you like a coward instead of manning up and letting you explain yourself in first place. That was wrong of me."

Meredith nodded. "Thank you for apologizing. And…all I want is a fair chance from you…to earn back your trust fully. Can you give me that?"

"Yes."

She smiled. "Does that mean I can move back in?"

He kissed her again, wordlessly answering her question.

* * *

**Elena**

After having had a warm and emotional reunion with her parents, Elena Gilbert was now doing something that she would have never in the past believe she would end up doing: Holding hands with a vampire at the dinner table.

She could practically feel the looks of distaste her parents and the servants were shooting her, but she willed herself to not care. Stefan was her future husband. That was set in stone, and they should have been used to that idea now. She knew that her parents had no doubt been expecting her to return angry and scared, like she had been when she had first left the clan, and that they were at least somewhat disappointed that she wasn't.

_It doesn't matter_, she tried to remind herself firmly. _They will get used to it. And…maybe, they might even grow to like and accept Stefan. Just like I had._

Elena glanced at the green-eyed vampire in question as he sat beside her, taking a drink of his soup. When his soft, kind eyes met hers warmly, every fear slipped away.

She would be able to handle anything that this day might throw at her. As long as she had Stefan by her side, everything would turn out fine.

"Elena dear? May I have a word with you in private?"

It was her mother.

Elena nodded at her, smiling at Stefan as she stood up from her seat at the table. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

He smiled softly back. "I'll be waiting."

She quickly kissed his cheek before following her parents into one of the bedrooms, both her mother and her father entering the room before her father firmly shut the door.

"What is it that you wanted to talk about?"

Her mother sighed in response. "Elena honey….what are you doing?"

Elena frowned. "What do you mean?"

"What are you doing with that vampire?" Her father supplied a bit angrily. "You were forced into this horrible situation. Why are you suddenly….happy about it?"

She had feared something like this would happen. She looked down at her feet as she responded to them. "I know it's strange. And it may not much sense to either of you….yet, but…once you get past the fact that he is a vampire, Stefan is actually very…."

"You call it by a name?" Her father interrupted.

Now Elena's anger glared. "Yes. I do. Is there a problem with that?"

"There is a problem, because…you sound like you might have feelings for it," her mother cautiously supplied. "It's a monster Elena. And it's awful that you are being forced to form any sort of union with it. We just don't want you to become disillusioned or misguided when it comes to it. It may seem a bit more civilized than some of the other vampires we've come across, but it's still…."

"I'm not _disillusioned_ about anything when it comes to _Stefan_," Elena fired back a bit venomously. "I have feelings for him. And if you have a problem with that, I'm sorry, but…."

"Get out of my house."

This stopped her in her tracks as she looked at her father with shock. "What?"

Her mother stepped in. "You heard him. And take your _pet _with you too. Our daughter would have never defended a vampire…but less have feelings for one. It's disgusting. It's obvious they have had you brainwashed."

Elena continued to stare at both of them in horror and shock. Were these the same warm, loving parents that had raised her? It sure didn't seem like it.

Biting her lip to either keep from crying or screaming, she didn't really know which, Elena turned her back on her parents. "Fine."

Silently, she walked out of the room, grabbing Stefan's hand as she walked back into the dining room. "Let's go Stefan."

He looked confused. "Already?"

"Yes. If the others take longer, we'll just wait for them in the carriage. I just….I need to get out of here."

The small break in her voice near the end of her sentence must have shown how upset she was, because Stefan didn't ask her anymore questions as he allowed her to drag him out of the manor.

"Are you going to tell me what happened back there?"

Elena and Stefan were now sitting in the carriage, neither having said a word to each other for the first few minutes after entering before Stefan finally broke the silence by asking the question.

Elena bit her lip again. The memory of her confrontation with her parents making her both angry beyond belief and sad at the same time. "It was nothing."

"Elena…."

"My parents….they don't like the fact that I have feelings for you, alright? And…well, they reamed me out a bit when they pulled me away to talk."

Stefan shook his head, clearly unconvinced. "Something as simple as that wouldn't have made you this upset. What else happened?"

It was then that tears finally began to fall from her eyes, slowly. "I don't want to talk about it." She suddenly collapsed against him, and she felt relieved when his arms wrapped around her…exactly like she wanted them to. "Stefan, I promise I'll tell you more later. But for now….would you just hold me?"

He began to stoke her long golden hair. "Of course."

He then allowed her to cry in his arms.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

"So much has changed you know…since you left."

I turned towards Matt in surprise as we walked along the snowy lawn. "How?"

After a long, much-needed reunion with both of my parents, Matt and I had decided to take a small walk outside to get some catching up time alone…after thoroughly explaining to Damon that it was only to catch up with an old friend…nothing more.

Matt shrugged. "It's just…so different without you, Elena, and Meredith parading around the village together, you know? Almost….life-less."

I caught the sad tone in his voice, and I put a comforting hand on his arm, smiling softly at him. "I miss it too….I miss everyone. But…well, if it makes you feel any better, it's not…it's not awful anymore."

His eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

I took my hand off his arm, looking down at the piling snow as I continued. "My life with the vampires, I mean. It's not awful anymore. I mean…of course when I first showed up there, I was scared and miserable, but now….it's not so bad." I looked back up at him. "This will always be my real home of course, but….I think I can be happy living at the castle as well."

"How can you even say that?"

My eyes widened a little in surprise at how…angry he sounded.

"It's true Matt. I know it sounds crazy, but…."

"It _is _crazy Bonnie! How can you say that you could be 'happy' there? You're being forced into marrying a monster…."

"Damon is _not _a monster," I said a bit more heatedly than I meant. "I…it….you just don't know him like I do! He's rough around the edges, and he does things once in a while to scare people off, but he's not….."

"You're in love with him, aren't you?"

I was so shocked that I stopped in mid-sentence, completely forgetting what I had been about to say before. What would make him say that? And so suddenly?

"No, I'm no…."

"I can see it in your eyes, Bonnie. And you looked like you wanted to rip my head off just for saying he was a monster."

I was happy that it was cold, because had it not been, my cheeks would have surely had a noticeable flush.

Matt looked at me sheepishly. "Am I wrong?" His tone sounded hopeful, as if he was praying that he _was_ wrong.

But the problem was, I didn't know if he was wrong or not yet neither.

"I don't know." I finally answered.

To my relief, the sound of my mother calling us back inside stopped us from continuing the conversation.

* * *

The stiffness of both my parents, and Matt was evident as Damon and I sat side-by-side at the dinner table.

I coughed nervously, desperate to start some sort of conversation. "So um…what is the garden going to have in it this spring, mom?"

A lame question. But at least it was something.

But she didn't answer, and instead, just continued to stare blankly at nothing in particular.

My father waved a hand in front of her face. "Beverly, Bonnie asked you a question."

She seemed to finally snap out of her daze, but the look in her eyes as she looked back at me was no what I was expecting. She sighed. "I'm sorry. But…I just can't continue to pretend that any of this is okay or normal."

My father's eyes widened in alarm. "Beverly…."

She waved him off. "Bonnie, what are you doing sitting next to him? Why aren't you shying away in fear?"

I knew this was coming, but that doesn't mean my response was any less hesitant or nervous. "I don't need to be afraid. I know he won't hurt me, and mom…."

"You can never know for sure." She said the words flatly. She seemed to have completely forgotten that Damon was still sitting in the room with us in her rage. "He's a monster…."

"He is not a monster!" I yelled, surprising everyone at the table with my volume.

My mother stared at me blankly for a few seconds, but after getting over her surprise, she continued. "Dear, we all know that…."

"I love him!" I blurted without thinking.

The reactions at all four of the other people sitting in the room were different. My parents wore similar masks of utter shock, Matt lowered his head at the table, and Damon looked at me with his own questioning glance.

And even I had shocked myself. But after quickly re-thinking it, I found that I didn't regret saying it. It was true. I loved Damon. It had taken me a bit to realize it, but I could see it now. I was in love with him.

"I love him…and I want to marry him. And if you can't accept that…then maybe this dinner should just end right here." I got up, taking Damon's hand. "Let's go Damon."

Without saying a word, Damon abided to my request, and we both walked out of the house.

Neither my parents or Matt came after us.

* * *

Back at the carriage, we all were packed into it once again, ready to go back to the castle.

Elena and Meredith obviously had their own eventful evenings, because I could sense changes. For one, Meredith and Sage were sitting close together…and he was holding her hand. Had they finally made up? And Elena…she was looking away from us and Stefan, deathly silent for once. I wanted to ask them right away about what had happened, but I decided it would be better to wait until we were all three alone together.

I then looked towards Damon. He hadn't said anything to me in response to me confessing my love for him back at the house, and the thought made me worried. Had I been stupid to confess like that? Did he not feel the same way?

But I knew I couldn't force it out of him. Not yet anyway. Maybe I could casually bring it up later tonight when we were alone in the quarters.

Only problem was that I was a little afraid about what his answer might be.

* * *

When I was finally back in Damon's quarters, he had to leave for a meeting….of course.

He pecked me on the lips before he left. "I shouldn't take too long. I'll be back before you know it." He winked at me.

"Okay." I said emotionlessly, too disappointed to find the energy to really flirt back this time.

Either not noticing my tone, or ignoring it, he left, shutting the door behind him.

I stared at the door for a few more moments after he left, before turning to head up the stairs, figuring I might as well just go to bed and try to gather up enough courage to confront Damon about my love confession sometime in the morning.

But just as I was about to walk onto the first step of the staircase, I heard the, screeching noise of the door being abruptly opened up. "Damon?"

I peered over the corner and my heart began to race. For it was not Damon entering the quarters. It was someone else. Someone I didn't recognize.

The unknown man, who was tall, at least 6 feet, had a huge, long mop of dark hair, and a pale face walked further into the quarters, grinning a toothy grin that clearly showed a startling pair of extended fangs. "Guess again, sweetheart."

A scream built its way up my breath, but before I could release it, he muffled it, blurring over to me and pressing his hand hard against my mouth.

I tried not to panic. The blood bond…the blood bond would save me! Damon would sense I was in danger and come back any minute now!

"We can't have you waking up the entire castle now, can we?" He smirked. "I have a job to do, and unfortunately for you, it doesn't end well in your case."

I tried to free myself from his grip to buy myself some more time before Damon showed up, but his grip on me was too strong…unbreakable.

"But I'm feeling….generous tonight. So I'll let you pick how you plan to die. Would you rather by do it quickly and messily or…" He leaned over to whisper in my ear. "Would you rather I do it slowly, but do my best to make it comfortable for you?"

I closed my eyes, trying to gather my fear and make it into…something. I remembered back in school at home, one of the things Mrs. Lorezzo constantly brought up was our ability as witches to do amazing things in desperate situations if we knew how to gather our energy that came from feeling strong emotions like anger or fear.

And as an answer to my prays, it worked.

The vampire suddenly let go of me, hissing in pain as he backed away, and when I had the chance to look, I saw that I had somehow used magic to turn his hand.

"You're going to regret that, you little bitch," he snarled, coming back towards me.

Panicking, I trigged all of my focus on the chair next to me, and used my telepathy to fling it at him, managing to knock him hard against the wall.

Trying to think quickly and precisely, though my every sense wanted to break down and just call for help; I grabbed one of the broken chair legs that had come from their chair I had flung at him, seeing that there was a every pointed edge at the place where it broke.

Hiding it behind my back and mustering all of my courage, I faked a mischievous smile. "Come and make me regret it then."

Fueled on pure rage and obviously not thinking, the vampire lunged at me, and just as he did, I pulled out the chair leg and plunged it straight into his chest.

* * *

**Damon**

The bond had been a bit too late to call out to him. And he desperately hoped that he wasn't too late.

Damon tore through the hallways of the castle, and through opened the door of the quarters, his teeth bared, ready to tear whoever dare touch her from limb to limb.

But what he saw instead surprised him.

"Redbird?"

His little bird stood with her back to him, her whole form rigid as she looked down at a body lying on the ground in front of her.

"I _killed _him."

* * *

**A/N: CLIFFHANGER! Don't kill me please! *Hides***

**I've had this plot twist planned since almost the beginning of the story, so I was excited to finally write it out hehe.**

**The story so far has mainly been about building up the relationships, but since it's a little more than halfway done now, I figured it was time to finally get to a turning point in the plot.**

**So questions:**

**Who do you think that vampire was that attacked Bonnie? And do you think Bonnie will have to face consequences if other vampires find out she killed one in the castle?**

**Did you like the Sage/Meredith conversation?**

**And why do you think Damon is slow on telling Bonnie he loves her back?**

**Review for a sneak peek of chapter 18 ;) **


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

**Guest: Awww thank you so much! That really does mean a lot. I smiled like an idiot reading your comment. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter :)**

**Bookluver1015: Thanks! I'm always happy to get a new reader :) And sorry for the confusion lol**

**Guest: I hope you like this new chapter…even if it is kind of a filler lol :)**

**Mikaela: I know…poor Bonnie and Elena :( But things will get better for them later. Thank you :)**

**Glitterbutt: Thanks so much! :)**

**Chloe: Sorry for keeping you up lol. But I'm honored to know that I was able to do it. Thank you :) I love getting new readers.**

**Mareesha: Aww thank you :) And yeah, I noticed that I was starting to slack in reminding people that Bonnie, Elena, and Meredith are indeed witches, so I thought I should have Bonnie take care of the vampire herself this time instead of having Damon merely save her again. I'm glad you liked it.**

**Guest: It's not Klaus, but I can tell you that Klaus had something to do with it ;) Thank you! I'm glad you like the story :)**

**BamonForEternity: Lol sorry for the cliffhanger! But thank you for your support :)**

**Ismile: Thank you :) And will do**

**Dede: I will tell you that at least one of the girls will become preggers before the end of the story, but as for whom…I'm keeping that a secret ;) I'm glad you like the story :)**

**Emerald: I'm glad you like it. Thank you :)**

* * *

**Damon**

Damon only continued to stare at the distraught redhead and the dead vampire lying on the ground for a few seconds before clearing his throat. "Redbird…."

She whirled around to face him, her eyes burning with unshed tears. "I….I killed him Damon! I'm sorry! He….just wouldn't leave me alone! But I didn't mean to kill him, I….."

"Shhh," Damon murmured as he took her small, shaking form into his arms, rubbing her back in what he hoped was a soothing motion. "Redbird, it's alright. You were only defending yourself. I'm not angry with you."

And he was being truthful. He felt no anger towards his little bird for the event that had transpired tonight. If anything, he was grateful and proud that she had been able to save herself.

Her body stopped shaking, seeming to have been comforted by the feeling of his arms around her.

However, her voice still came out in a tremble as she spoke. "But Damon….I killed a _vampire. _Won't I get in trouble?"

She had a point. There was no doubt in Damon's mind that the royals would indeed punish Bonnie if the fact that she killed a vampire in the castle of revealed. But he'd be damned if he allowed _anything _at all to happen to her.

"No," he answered immediately, stopping the rubbing of her back to lock his dark eyes with her warm brown ones. "_Nothing _is going to happen to you. I won't allow it."

Bonnie looked confused. "But if they find out…."

"They aren't going to find out," he said heatedly, sighing when he saw the frightened look on her face.

He kissed the top of her head. "_Cara, _please believe me when I say that I won't let anymore harm come to you. But you must play your part. I don't want you to tell anyone about what happened tonight."

"Not even Meredith or Elena?"

He shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Someone may overhear your conversation. It's vital that you don't say a word about this to anyone. Do you understand?" He looked sternly into her eyes, willing her to understand.

Finally, with a small sigh, she nodded. "Okay."

He sucked in a small breath of relief and gently grabbed her arms, standing her up alongside him. "Come. I need to dispose of the body, and I refuse to leave you alone again."

That was another factor in this night that had puzzled him. The fact it had taken the blood bond so long to let him know that Bonnie had been calling for his help. Now, he figured it was because the bond had weakened, and that another blood exchange was needed.

But getting Bonnie to allow him to form another bond was another issue. He would have to find a way to convince her. He would never force her again.

He led her out the door, locking it behind them. He would come back for the body shortly.

"Where are you taking me?" She asked as he took her hand.

"To my brother's quarters," he answered flatly as they began to walk down the corridors. "I'll come back and get you after I take care of the body."

Once they reached the door that led to Stefan's quarters, he paused and turned towards her.

"Remember, don't say a word about this to anyone. Not even Elena."

"Well um…what will I say? What if she asks about why I'm there?"

"Make something up."

Damon knocked on the door firmly, and after only a few moments, Stefan answered.

Stefan's green orbs narrowed at the sight of them standing outside his door. "Damon? Bonnie?"

Damon smirked. "Surprise brother."

Stefan rolled his eyes before his gaze became serious again. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"We've run into a….slight problem," Damon replied gravely. "I'll explain later. For now, I need you to let Bonnie stay in your quarters. I don't want her left alone."

Stefan looked like he wanted to press the subject for further information, but seeing the stubborn look on his older brother's face must have caused him to realize that it would be futile.

With a sigh, he nodded. "Alright."

Bonnie smiled gratefully at him. "Thanks Stefan."

Before his little bird could disappear into the quarters, Damon turned her towards him and kissed her quickly on the lips. "I'll be back for you soon," he whispered to her before turning to head back to his own quarters.

* * *

About ten minutes later, Damon was standing far out into the Old Wood outside the castle, a shovel from the stables in his hand as he finished digging a hole.

The dead vampire, to his relief, hadn't been anyone of importance. He had most likely been a rogue, travelling into a territory outside his own. As long as no one found out about his little bird slaying him, he would most likely not be missed.

As he dropped the corpse into the hole and began to shovel dirt to cover it back up, he thought back to all of the night's events.

He was proud of his little bird. She had been able to defend herself and beautifully so. But the idea that a rogue vampire had randomly attacked her unnerved him. He was positive that Klaus had something to do with it and the thought made him want to rage. He would kill that _bastardo _evenif it was the last thing he did.

After he finished the burial, he quickly scanned the area, making sure nothing looked suspicious. Once he was satisfied with how it looked, he picked up the shovel and turned back in the direction towards the castle.

"Have you been busy tonight?"

He turned sharply at the sound of the twinkling, feminine voice, and growled lowly when he saw who it was. "What do you want, Katherine?"

The female vampire smiled maliciously. "Only the desire to cure a mild curiosity." She stepped closer towards him and peered down at the spot where he had buried the rogue vampire. "Did your little witch get herself into some trouble?"

He glared furiously at her. "If I were you, I would do my best to keep this to myself. Don't forget that I have plenty valuable information to potentially share with the royals regarding you."

Katherine held up her hands. "Relax. I have no interest in getting involved in your affairs." She paused, before smirking. "I only wish to know what your intentions are."

"That is none of your concern," Damon snapped, turning his back towards her dismissively.

"Do you love her?"

His following silence seemed to be enough of an answer for her, and she laughed. "You do, don't you? I can see from the way you tensed up when I asked the question." She laughed again. "You're so pathetic Damon. And what's worse is that you act like you're above everyone else. But in reality, you're just as much of an over-emotional fool as your brother."

That did it.

Not wasting a second, Damon lunged forward and pinned the blonde vampire to a nearby tree. "I am _not _Saint Stefan. And should you ever even attempt to get in my way for the rest of this mission, I will have no qualms about putting a stake right through your chest. Understand, princess?"

Without waiting for her to respond, he let go of her, turned around, and headed back towards the castle.

She didn't follow him.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

"Bonnie…just tell me."

I turned towards Elena with what I hope looked like a confused expression. "I already told you. Damon had to go to a last minute meeting with the king and queen, and with all of the Klaus drama going on, he didn't want me to be left alone."

It seemed like a reasonable enough lie, at least to me. But Elena was just not buying it.

She shook her head. "You're shaking. You always shake when you lie."

Curse my horrible lying abilities….

I sighed. "I can't tell you the whole story Elena. I'm sorry."

I wished I could tell her. It would just make things so much easier, and I really wanted someone to talk to about what happened, but Damon had sworn me to secrecy. And….I was kind of afraid of how Elena and Meredith would react if they knew.

I had killed someone. It had been a vampire, and out of self defense, but I still killed him. And I couldn't get the image of a stake going through his chest out of my mind.

Elena opened her mouth to no doubt say something else to argue, but before she could, her bedroom door swung open.

Stefan stood in the doorway, his kind, green eyes comforting as he looked at me. "Bonnie, Damon is back."

I nodded and got off the bed. "Thanks Stefan." I turned towards Elena. "See you tomorrow."

She only nodded, but I could see clearly a look in her eyes that said "We'll be talking about this later." Holding back another sigh, I followed Stefan downstairs."

Just like Stefan had said, Damon was outside the quarters, waiting for me, and I instantly took my place beside him. He frowned at my obvious frantic aura and wrapped his arms around me. "Are you alright?"

I nodded, scooting myself closer to him. "Can we just…head back to the quarters?"

"Alright." He looked up at Stefan, clearing his throat. "Thank you for keeping an eye on her, brother."

A small smile spread across Stefan's lips, obviously not used to hearing Damon say "Thank you". "You're welcome Damon."

After that, Damon nodded once more at him before taking my hand, and together, we walked in the direction of the quarters.

Just like always, he unlocked the door and held it open, allowing me to step inside first.

Once I was inside, I quickly looked around the area and saw that the body of the vampire was nowhere to be found. Damon must have stuck to his word and taken care of it.

I turned towards him hesitantly. "Where is it?"

He waved the question off, knowing exactly what I meant. "That is of no importance. The point is that it's gone."

I knew, despite my brief annoyance towards it, that he wasn't telling me out of fear that someone could overhear us, so I only nodded in response.

We stood there kind of awkwardly for a few moments before Damon finally gestured towards the staircase. "It's getting late. We should go to our respective bedrooms."

In agreement, I followed him up the stairs.

However, once I reached the door that led to my bedroom, something broke in me…something telling me that I did _not _want to be left alone again tonight.

"Damon?" I said his name shakily, a bit nervous about what I was about to ask him.

His eyebrows rose at my tone. "Yes Redbird?"

I sighed. "I….I don't want to be alone." I looked down at my feet, a blush coloring my cheeks. "Do you think I….could stay in your room tonight?"

"With me in it?"

I looked up at him with disbelief, but automatically saw form his smirk that he was trying to tease me.

"Yes….with you in it," I answered, laughing nervously. "I just….i'm kind of scared."

He continued to smirk at me, and I had the urge to stare down at the ground again.

With a soft chuckle, he opened the door to his bedroom, gesturing at me to go inside. "Come on it, redbird."

I smiled at him appreciatively and took his invitation, walking inside the bedroom.

I had been in here only once before….when I had heard Damon talking in his sleep, and due to weird circumstances, ended up getting trapped in the room overnight. But this time was different. This time, we were both fully aware of what was going on.

I heard the bedroom door shut behind me, and then the sound of another chuckle.

"Redbird, relax," his silky voice murmured soothingly, before his hands began to gently rub my shoulders from behind. I closed my eyes in content. It felt really nice.

"Thank you," I whispered, and then he planted a soft kiss on the side of my neck.

He lifted me up into his arms and carried me to the bed, sliding us both under the blankets and wrapping his arms around me, holding me against his chest.

"I don't want you to be frightened anymore," he continued in his soothing voice. "I promise, I _swear_, I won't allow anyone to harm you."

I smiled and kissed the lower side of his jaw. "I know."

Silence passed over us and I could feel his arms tense slightly around me. I sat up a bit from my laying position in order to see his face. "Damon, what's wrong?"

He sighed in response. "I was late in coming to save you tonight."

I frowned. "But you did show up….."

"Not soon enough." He kissed the tip of my nose, the anxious look in his gaze not fading. "You ended up having to take down that vampire on your own, because the blood bond hadn't let me know you were in danger when it was supposed to."

"It's okay," I reassured, managing a small smile. But when the anxious look still would not leave his eyes, I persisted. "Is there anything we could do to….fix it?"

"We have to exchange blood again."

I froze. Memories of the last time we had exchanged blood swarmed my mind.

His gaze turned gentle again. "It's entirely up to you whether we do it or not. I won't force you again, but I highly advise it. I….the idea of something happening to you unnerves me."

The way he was rambling almost made him sound…nervous. I giggled a little at the thought.

Damon arched a brow. "What's so amusing?"

"Nothing," I insisted, after my giggling had ceased. I paused before continuing. "I….Damon, it's okay. We can do it."

He seemed surprised by my answer and even heisted. "Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes. I….I know you only want to protect me. And it didn't hurt last time. Not really." I bit my lower lip. "And…it…it won't hurt this time either, right?"

Damon shook his head. "Of course not." He gently cupped my cheek. "It can even be pleasurable if you will allow it to be."

I let out an exhale of relief. "Okay."

Damon then wrapped his arms around me again and we sat up in the bed, he scooting me closer to him to the point where I was almost sitting on his lap. I felt his breath against my neck as he leaned closer towards it, before his cool lips began to pepper it in soft kisses, causing me to shiver.

"Relax," he whispered for the second time tonight, rubbing my back soothingly.

I nodded and melted into him, closing my eyes as I attempted to relieve the tension clouding my body.

It seemed to be working. And Damon's back rubbing was definitely helping.

"I'm ready," I eventually whispered.

And then I once again, felt the sting of his fans piercing and sinking into my neck and I let out a small whimper. But the pain was quickly fading, and it was replaced with a strange feeling…..strange, but wonderful.

I felt like I was on a hazy cloud….and like I was completely safe and nothing could hurt me.

Damon was now using the bond we were forging to show me images….images of memories. When he had saved me after I fell through the ice, when he had first kissed me, when I had defended him against my mom….

Not only did I see memories, but I also felt the emotions that came with them. Protectiveness, anger, happiness, love….

Love. He hadn't said the three important words to me, but I could clearly feel the warmth of his love.

_Damon, _I sent to him telepathically. _I love you._

He may have already heard it when I had told my parents and Matt that I loved him, but actually saying it to him might make more of an impact.

_Do….do you love me back? _Even telepathically, I was sure that he could still sense my nervousness in asking the question.

After a brief silence that unnerved me to no end, he replied. _Redbird, cara, of course I do. Don't you know that?_

I was so distracted with processing his words that I hardly noticed when his fangs left my neck.

"Don't touch it," he scolded, when my hands instinctively went to touch the spot where he had bitten me.

I nodded and watched as he searched for something to no doubt cut himself so I could drink some of his blood and complete the blood exchange.

"You do?" I asked verbally, needing reassurance.

"Of course. What made you think otherwise?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. You didn't say anything about it to me when I told my parents that I loved you. I figured that…."

I trailed off when he suddenly took my hand. "Redbird," he said softly, genuine truth showing in his expression. "I love you."

Tears of happiness shined in my eyes. How could I have ever doubted him?

"I love you so much Damon…."

And then we were kissing, my hands fisting into his dark hair while he pulled me even closer to him.

The kiss didn't last as long as I wanted it to. Damon broke it off, chuckling lowly. "We need to complete the blood exchange before the effect wears off."

Reluctantly, I nodded in agreement, though there were other things I would have rather been doing at that moment.

Damon had managed to find a small pocketknife on his bedside table and he swiftly used it to make a small, though flowing cut on the side of his own neck, gesturing at me to finish the exchange.

This made me a bit more excited. Last time we had exchanged blood, I had gotten his blood from his wrist. Now I would be drinking it from his neck, which sounded all the more intimate.

I scooted closer, sitting in his lap as I leaned up and pressed my lips to the wound on his neck.

Just as before, Damon's blood tasted magical. I wasn't sure what it was about it that made it so, but it did. As I continued to drink, I tried to recreate what he had done for me while he had been taking my blood. I pushed and searched through my mind to give him some of my fondest memories of us, such as our first kiss, and the night he had saved Meredith from her jail cell and told me that I would get to see my family on Christmas. I also made sure to show him my emotions towards him, the love the most prominent one.

After I finished, I licked my lower lip to take care of the small amount of blood that had spilled onto it. And then I took him by surprise by kissing him again, not seeming to be able to get enough of him.

He kissed me back, though with slight hesitation, most likely because of confusion towards my sudden forwardness.

As we continued to kiss, I ran my hands over his chest, discreetly unbuttoning it and shivered at the feeling of his bare chest underneath my hands.

I was just beginning to attempt to take the shirt off when Damon's hands suddenly grabbed mine, stopping them.

"What?" I mumbled, my emotions a mixture of impatience and nervousness that I had done something wrong.

He chuckled in response. "It's late. You should get some sleep."

Disappointment flared through me. "But I don't want to go to sleep," I complained, leaning up to try to reattach our lips.

He gently continued to hold me back with his hands, stubborn. "Not tonight."

"Why not?" My old insecurities threatened to take over. Did he not want me?

Obviously sensing my thoughts, he brought my hands to his lips and kissed my knuckles. "If you keep this up, I'm not sure how long my resistance will hold up." He flashed a smirk and a wink at me before once again, taking on a serious aura. "I'm not saying never. Just not tonight."

"Why not tonight?" It seemed like the perfect time to me. We were in his room, alone, with little to no possibility of interruption….

"Because you had a rough night, and you're in an emotional and sensitive state of mind in result of it," he explained flatly. "When I do take you, I want the time to be fitting."

Though happiness swelled through me at how caring he was being and how he only wanted the best for me, I still couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

I sighed. "What happened tonight scared me. But it doesn't mean it's still affecting me….."

"Yes it is. You wouldn't be acting this way if it wasn't. You're scared, and you're acting out this way because you're in need of comfort." He kissed my forehead. "We will have plenty of opportunities to continue this when you're in a better state of mind. "Besides," he smirked again. "I know I won't be able to resist too much longer before I make you mine completely."

I blushed at his words before sighing in defeat. "Okay."

Silence passed over us before a small, though obvious yawn erupted from me, and I smiled sheepishly. "I guess I am kind of tired."

In response, Damon laid down on the bed, but not before completely taking off his shirt.

I narrowed my eyes. "I thought you said…."

He smirked. "This is only to tease you." He opened his arms, inviting me into the circle of them.

I rolled my eyes, but accepted the invite, snuggling into his arms and laying my head on his bare chest, while he threw the covers over us both. "Goodnight little bird."

"Goodnight Damon."

The blood exchange and everything else that had happened that night must have worn me out more than I thought it had, because only ten minutes later, I slowly fell asleep in the safety of his arms.

* * *

**Stefan**

After Bonnie had left with his brother, Stefan had gone back upstairs, finding that he had nothing else to do. He was slightly suspicious about why Damon had Bonnie over here for that short time, but he figured he could ask him about it later, when Bonnie wasn't around.

As we walked up the stairs in the direction of his room, he passed by the door that led to Elena's, and hesitated.

Ever since they had gotten back from seeing her family, Elena had been distant from him. And he knew that it had something to do with what her parents had said to her after they took her into another room to speak with her privately. She had told him a bit about it, but he had a feeling that she wasn't telling him the entire story. And while he wanted to respect her space and privacy, the quiet and almost insecure way she was acting was highly unlike her, and it worried him.

Perhaps it was time to try asking her about it again.

Softly, he knocked on her door. And when she hadn't answered after nearly two minutes, h began to walk away, just as the door suddenly swung open. "Stefan."

He looked up and saw her standing in the doorway, her long, golden hair falling freely down her shoulders. And despite that her lapis lazuli eyes lacked their usual fire and passion in them; she was still just as beautiful as ever. "Elena." He looked into her eyes, trying to convey to her how much her recent behavior has worried him. "Is it alright if I come in?"

Wordlessly, she nodded, and opened the door wider so he could come inside.

Once he was inside, she shut the door and turned back to look at him once again. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"

He sighed. "Yes, there is. I….I wondered if I could ask you once more about what happened between you and your parents that left you so upset?"

When he was only met with piercing silence, he continued. "I wouldn't have asked, but your recent behavior….it worries me. You haven't been acting like yourself."

More silence.

"Please Elena," he persisted. "I only want to…."

"They practically disowned me."

His eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

Elena looked down at the ground for a few seconds, as if trying to find the right words to continue, before looking back up at him, her blue eyes, though they shed no tears, held obvious sadness. "They didn't like that I had real feelings for you. And when I tried to defend you and our relationship, they said I wasn't truly their daughter anymore. I….I don't think they want any more to do with me as of right now."

His undead heart broke into a million pieces for her, and at once, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug that she didn't automatically return. "I'm sorry."

He knew that the other witches and warlocks no doubt had some hatred for his kind, especially if Elena's initial hatred of him when she first arrived was any indication. The vampires had been at war with their clan for years. There was bound to be hated and resentment. It would be abnormal if there wasn't.

But to dismiss your own daughter like that….fierce anger and sadness swelled through him on her behalf.

Elena eventually returned the hug, though she didn't say anything.

As he continued to hold her to him, Stefan began to stroke her golden hair, his heart clenching with guilt, knowing that it was his own kind that was bringing so much trauma and complication to Elena's life.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, before his voice turned suddenly determined. "Elena…..I'll try to get you out of this. You won't have to go through with the marriage, and you could return home….."

"No."

The green eyed vampire blinked in surprise and parted from their hug, looking at the blonde witch in front of him with puzzlement. "What?"

Hadn't she wanted to get out of this arrangement since day one?

Elena sighed. "I don't want you to end the engagement." She managed a small smile at him and reached up to touch his face. "It's sweet of you to offer that Stefan and I appreciate it, but….I don't want to cancel the engagement. I love you, and I want to marry you. And if my parents can't accept that….as sad as it will be, so be it. I won't let their ignorance get in the way of my happiness."

Stefan's reaction towards her statement was a mixture of surprise and…happiness. She had confessed to actually wanting to go through with the marriage and that she loved him at the same time.

"I love you too," he replied, pulling her into his arms again. "And more than anything, I want you to be happy."

"And I will be. Even if my parents can't get past their hatred and see that we were meant to be together, I….._we _will be happy. I know we will be."

"Still. They're your parents. It must be hard to…."

She interrupted him by pressing her lips to his. "Hope isn't completely lost yet. We still have the wedding…and our families will be invited, right?"

"Of course."

"Maybe that will be enough to make them see."

Stefan could tell from her tone that she doubted her own words, but before he could say anything else on the issue, Elena continued.

"Now, why don't we both get some sleep? I think it would be nice to get up a bit earlier so we can head to the kitchens and have a nice breakfast alone, don't you?"

He nodded. "It would be." He cleared his throat. "Goodnight Elena."

"Goodnight Stefan."

He walked out the door and headed towards his own bedroom. He was satisfied for the night, but he had a feeling that despite what Elena kept insisting, this conversation was far from being over.

* * *

**Matt**

Matt slowly exhaled a breath as he knocked on the door of the McCullough household.

Bonnie's visit hadn't gone how he had wanted it to…and he doubted it had gone how she wanted it to go either.

Matt was positive that Bonnie had come home to visit her family and friends….not delve into drama about her engagement that wasn't her fault to begin with. He may not approve of her feelings towards the monster…and probably never would, but after he sat down and calmly thought about it, he concluded that he should just be happy for the time being that she was no longer miserable about her current situation.

He only wished Bonnie was here so he could tell her all of this to her face and apologize for his behavior. But he was going to try to fix the mess he had helped made the best he could.

The door swung open, and there stood Mr. McCullough, the normally proud and powerful man had red eyes, no doubt from earlier crying. "Matt? What brings you here at this hour?"

"I had a lot on my mind, and couldn't get to sleep," Matt answered. "May I come in? Just for a little while?"

He hadn't realized just how late it was. If he had, he would have tried to wait until tomorrow. "If now is not a good time, I could…."

"No," the clan leader responded, sighing. "Beverly and I haven't been able to get any sleep either. Come on in."

All three of them seemed to have been shaken up by everything that had happened during Bonnie's visit….

Matt stepped inside the house, wincing as memories of what had happened last time he was here flashed through his mind. "Where is Mrs. McCullough?"

"Upstairs. She's….having a bit more of a difficult time than I am."

Matt shifted his feet nervously. "Does she regret what she said to Bonnie?"

"I think so."

Matt exhaled. "I can't stop thinking about it." He paused. "It's actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

Mr. McCullough nodded. "Go on."

"Bonnie said that her vampire fiancé….Damon, was the one who made it so she could visit us right? I was thinking….maybe if we sent him a letter, he would let her come back here to see us or let us go over there to see her? Just so we could….apologize?"

The older man laughed bitterly. "What makes you think that vampire would even consider something like that?"

"I know it's a crazy idea, but he did let her come here. Maybe….maybe he would consider it." When he was only met with dead silence, he continued. "It's worth a try, isn't it?"

After a few more moments, Mr. McCullough sighed. "Alright. What should we put in the letter?"

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

The next day, I was nervous as ever as I sat with Elena and Meredith during dinner.

I knew that Elena wanted to further question me on what had happened last night…about why I was in Stefan's quarters for that short time. But I was thankful that she didn't say anything about it in front of Meredith. If Meredith knew, she would no doubt find a way to get me to confess.

Instead, as more of a distraction for myself over anything else, I told them about what had happened between Damon and I while we were in his room.

Elena's expression was of pure surprise and Meredith's was of mild suspicion.

"We didn't have sex!" I whispered heatedly, for some reason feeling that it was important for them to know that. "We shared a bed….but that was it. But it was….nice."

I excluded the fact that while we didn't go all of the way, last night had been the most intimate Damon and I had ever been together…so far anyway.

Meredith raised an eyebrow. "He didn't pressure you to do anything beyond that, did he?"

I shook my head. _If anything, I was the one who pressured him_, I thought with a blush.

I still was confused about how I had acted last night. And it was almost kind of….embarrassing how I attacked him. It wasn't like me. Now that I thought back on it, I was sure that Damon was right about me being in an emotional state….and the blood exchange certainly didn't help. I think it may have been a mixture of those two factors that caused me to act that way.

For that, I was now thankful that Damon had put a stop to it. There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted him to be my first…and probably my only considering we were going to get married, but last night had not been the right time.

Before anyone could say anything else, a steely voice came from behind us. "Queen Drina requests your presence."

We all three turned and saw that it was Katherine. I gulped. Behind Klaus of course, Katherine ranked as #2 of vampires I've met that made me the most nervous.

Elena raised her eyebrows. "What for?"

"She didn't say. Now come on."

Slowly, we all three stood up, leaving the rest of our dinner abandoned as we followed Katherine out of the kitchen and through the quarters.

As we walked, I could feel the blonde vampire's gaze nearly burned into me, and it almost made me shiver. Why was she giving me so much attention?

Once we reached our destination, which turned out to be the door that led to the castle library, Katherine paused and turned to address all three of us.

"I was wondering if any of you three have heard about a vampire recently getting killed?"

My heart stopped. Did…did she somehow know? How?

Elena wordlessly shook her head, while Meredith looked at her questionably. "What are you talking about? When did that happen?"

"Oh I don't know. I just…have this strange feeling that something like that happened recently. Perhaps I'm wrong."

Meredith and Elena looked strictly confused, while my heart was probably beating at about 100 beats per second.

"Well, enjoy your meeting with the queen," Katherine said casually after a moment, but she shot a secret smile as she walked away from us.

She knew.

* * *

**Meredith**

Meredith could tell throughout the whole lesson with Drina that Bonnie was extremely on edge.

It was clear that her mind was drifting because whenever Drina had asked her a question, the redhead would stammer out a quick reply, though obvious for the most part unaware of the main topic of the current discussion.

She had made a mental note to confront her about it after the lesson was over.

"Meredith, may I have a word with you in private?"

The dark haired witch stopped in her tracks, watching as both Bonnie and Elena disappeared out the door.

She reluctantly turned towards the witch-turned-vampire queen and nodded respectively. "Of course, your majesty."

Drina smiled softly and gestured at her to follow her further into the library, before she sat down in an armchair next to the fireplace, while Meredith sat in the one across from her.

"How and you and my son been doing?"

Meredith hesitated with answering the question. She and Sage were doing much better than they had been earlier, but they still weren't on a completely healing track. She knew there was still a small part of Sage that didn't trust her, and that there was a small part of herself that still held some resentment towards him for kicking her out of the quarters without letting her fully explain herself. But they were working on overcoming those issues.

"We're doing okay," she finally answered flatly.

Drina nodded, biting her lip in what almost looked like a nervous fashion. "I'm glad."

The vampire queen then reached over to grab a small box that had been sitting on a table next to her armchair, handing it to her.

When Meredith looked at her with a perplexed expression, the queen simply said "Open it up."

Slowly, Meredith carefully lifted up the lid of the box, and her dark eyes widened at what she found.

Inside, was beautiful amulet, put together by a gold chain and had what looked like a ruby in the center of it. She looked back up at Queen Drina with a somewhat confused expression. "What is this?"

Drina smiled again. "It was one of my most prized possessions before I was….turned and brought into this life. It holds magical properties that had been plenty useful for me when I needed it. I wanted to pass it along to one of you, and I figured that since you will be the one to become my daughter-in-law, you would be the best fit."

Meredith gazed down at the amulet, carefully lifting it out of the box. "What does it do?"

But when she looked back up, she saw that the queen had somehow suddenly vanished.

* * *

**A/N: Meh…this chapter was kind of a filler chapter. Not too much action. But I hoped you liked it anyway.**

**Sorry for the usual lateness lol. There have been a few factors that kept me from updating sooner:**

**- School (Which will be over in only two more days, THANK GOD**

**- Zutara (Zuko and Katara from ATLA). I recently started re-watching the show, and my obsession with them has come back. I've been very busy reading fanfictions lol**

_**- The Fault in Our Stars **_**by John Green. I sobbed my eyes out reading this book. It's so amazing. I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read it.**

**Btw, sorry for teasing you with that Bamon scene earlier lol. I was going to let them actually go all of the way originally, but I figured it was better to wait since I didn't want to make it look like Damon was taking advantage of her. But they'll be sharing a bed for now on and have confessed their love, so this "no sex" agenda probably won't last too much longer ;) And for fans of Sage/Meredith, I'm sorry that there wasn't much mention of them in this chapter. But I'll try to write out a really good scene for them in Chapter 19 to make up for it.**

**As always, review for a sneak peek!**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N:** **This chapter was REALLY hard to write for some reason, but I hope you guys like it :)**

**Guest: I hope you'll like the Meredith/Sage scene in this chapter :)**

**Guest: I think I already have lost some reviewers. The last chapter didn't get as many reviews as the past ones have. And I was kind of sad about it at first, but in the end, I write fanfic more for fun than to get a bunch of readers. I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and sorry that I'm such a lame updater lol. :)**

**BamonForEternity: Bamon will get their time to finish where they left off eventually ;)**

**Dede: It may take a long time, but I promise that I WILL eventually finish this story. It's my baby lol. Thanks for the review :)**

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

My hands were shaking violently as I walked back to Damon's quarters.

Katherine knew. That single thought continued to repeat itself in my mind over and over again. Would she tell the royals about what she knew? And if she did….what would happen?

I remembered how grave Damon had looked when he first found the dead vampire lying on the floor, and when he had made me swear not to tell anyone about what happened. He had obviously been afraid of someone finding out.

And it made me fear even more the possibilities of what the royals could do if they knew.

Taking a deep breath, to calm myself down, I stepped inside the quarters, glancing around for any sight of Damon.

"Damon?" I called out questionably when I could find him nowhere in sight.

Frowning, I then trudged up the stairs, the sound of running water suddenly reaching my eardrums.

It was coming from Damon's bedroom…well, our bedroom now, I realized with a flush, remembering how Damon and I had decided this morning that I would be moving into his room with him.

Curious, I flung open the door, just as the sound of the water running ceased.

"Damon?" I repeated, stepping further into the room. I had been about to repeat the call when his figure suddenly came out of the bedroom's small bathroom, and the sight of him made me gasp.

He was standing in front of me wearing nothing but a towel that draped low around his hips, his dark hair messy and damp from the obvious shower he had just finished taken.

The sight threatened to take my breath away.

Damon smirked, seeming to notice the way his current state of undress was effecting me.

"What can I do for you, redbird?"

I gulped, trying to hide my nervousness but failing terribly." "I….I…."

He came closer, the smirk never vanishing from his face. Once he was directly in front of me, he slowly lifted a hand to stroke my cheek, his body so close to mine that if he moved only a few centimeters more, we would be pressing together.

"You what?" He whispered seductively, leaning to press his cool lips against my forehead.

"I…." I shook my head, breaking myself out of my daze. "Can you put some clothes on first?"

My irritated tone caused him to chuckle, and in what seemed like a reluctant motion, he backed away.

"Very well. I will come back to seek the information you have to share shortly," he murmured, before disappearing back into the bathroom.

After the door clanked shut and he was out of sight, I sat down on the bed, letting out a large exhale of breath that I hadn't realized before I had been holding.

What was Damon trying to do? Kill me? Considering he had been the one to stop what had almost happened between us only just last night, he sure wasn't helping much in preventing things from escalating again….

It was then that I realized, with a stab of self-shame, that the confrontation between Damon and I had caused me to completely forget about what I had come up to tell him about in the first place: my suspicions towards Katherine.

Way to sort out your priorities McCullough….

I shake my head in complete disbelief at myself.

When Damon returned, he was still not fully dressed, but he at least now had pants on, so it would be enough to not make me a nervous, stammering mess.

Or at least I hoped it would be.

Damon raised his eyebrows questionably at my silence. "If I remember correctly, you wanted to tell me something?"

"Oh yes!" I exclaimed, mentally smacking myself for staring awkwardly into space. I sucked in another deep breath. "It's about Katherine. She gave me this…weird smile this morning and I think she might know about….well, _you _know."

Luckily for me, and as I predicted, Damon knew exactly what I was talking about. He nodded briefly and cleared his throat gruffly.

"I am afraid that Katherine does indeed know about the incident. I had a run in with her shortly after I disposed of it."

By "it" I knew he meant the body of the dead vampire.

"Oh." I knew that simple, short word could clearly showcase all of the fear I was currently feeling.

"However, you have nothing to fear, my little redbird," Damon said suddenly, reaching out to stroke my cheek. "I did say that I wouldn't let anything happen to you, hadn't I?"

I closed my eyes for a few seconds, feeling somewhat comforted by his touch.

However, it didn't manage to completely chase away my concerns.

"But Damon," I said softly and fearfully. "What if…what if Katherine tells someone?"

"She's not going to," he answered abruptly, and when I shot him a questioning glance, he sighed. "Don't worry about it."

I didn't want to aggravate him. And I knew that I was probably doing exactly that by continuously pressing the subject, but now I was getting a little irritated too. I didn't like the idea of Damon _still _keeping secrets from me.

"Please tell me. Why do you think Katherine won't tell anyone?"

He sighed. "Redbird…."

"Please," I repeated, grabbing one of his hands.

My pleading tone must have finally done him in.

His shoulders slumped in a motion of defeat, before finally nodding.

"Sit down. There's a story that I have to tell you. And perhaps I should have told you a while ago."

* * *

**Meredith**

"You've been especially quiet today."

Meredith looked sharply up from the spell book at Sage's matter-of-fact tone sounding from the doorway of her bedroom, feigning a flat expression. "You haven't exactly been around enough for me to talk to you."

She had tried to keep the bite out of her tone, but it was true. She knew that Sage, even if he wouldn't admit, and despite how casual he was trying to make it seem, was avoiding her. And it was bothering her more than she would like it to.

Because…she missed Sage. She missed their afternoons together, how they would practice magic or…simply enjoy each other's company.

They had agreed to give their relationship another try, but she could still see that Sage was subconsciously distancing himself from her.

Sage did not verbally respond to her words, but she did hear him let out a low sigh, and after her eyes had re-glued themselves to the spell book, she felt the slump of her bed that told her that he had sat down beside her.

"_Merde, _I do apologize. I truly want to start over and try again, but…."

"You're having a hard time getting over it. I understand," Meredith replied with a sigh. "And I am still hurt over you making me move out of the quarters over the last few weeks, while we're being honest."

Silence ensued between them before Sage awkwardly cleared his throat. "If you don't mind my asking, what are you doing?"

Meredith glanced back down at the spell book briefly before looking straight into his golden eyes. "I'm trying to decide on what spell we should practice next."

He seemed surprised by this answer. "Meredith…."

She waved him off. "A deal is a deal, Sage. I told you I would help you practice magic if you allowed me to perform magic inside of the quarters. And I still want to follow through with it." She paused, narrowing her silver eyes. "That is, if you're still up for it."

Sage nodded. "I am." He looked at her blankly for a few seconds, before a slow, slight smile lit up his expression. "Thank you."

Despite her current moodiness, Meredith found herself smiling back.

"Okay then," she said in a slightly less guarded tone, scooting a bit closer to him. "Would you like to help me pick out a spell?"

* * *

**Damon**

**Florence, Italy, 1545**

"_Damon, what has become of you?"_

_A very human Stefan Salvatore stammered the words, his green eyes elite with fear._

_Which was an accurate reaction, considering his older brother was currently standing in front of him with blood on his face from a recent feeding and his fangs visible and lengthened. _

_The newly turned vampire in question had absolutely no idea how to properly explain the situation to his younger brother. For once, the normally suave and charismatic older Salvatore brother was completely at a loss of words._

_Luckily, he hadn't needed to answer._

"_I turned him Stefan," a gentle, feminine voice said, the speaker suddenly appearing like a shadow next to the elder Salvatore. "He's a vampire."_

_Silence ensued between the two vampires and one human, before Stefan finally broke it, his next question coming out in nervous heaves._

"_You turned him into what you are? But…why? And…why does he have blood all over his face?"_

_The two Salvatore brothers had known about Drina's secret since the young, innocent ages of five and seven, when she had shown up at the Salvatore villa as their new nanny. At the time, they had been rightfully frightened, but also curious. And because of their young wonder, Drina had somehow "convinced" them to never tell a soul about her true existence._

"_He just recently finished feeding and got a bit carried away," Drina explained, before her expression softened even further. "Stefan, your brother was dying. I did what I could to save him._

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

"So when you were human….Drina was your _nanny_?" I asked in disbelief after Damon had paused in telling his story, the idea too…normal for me to associate it with the vampire queen.

Damon nodded, handing me a mug of hot chocolate that he had brought from the kitchen as we both sat down in our usual armchairs next to the roaring fireplace. At some point during the storytelling, we had migrated down from the bedroom and to the main lobby of the quarters.

"Yes. And she had the job for three years before she eventually revealed her secret. But by then…my brother and I had grown quite attached and accustomed to her, that eventually, she was able to convince us to keep her secret."

"But…wasn't she the _queen_ by then? Why would she want to be the nanny for a random human family?"

"Because she didn't believe we were a normal family. At least not at first."

My puzzled expression made him sigh. "Redbird, my family….was complicated at the most. My mother died only a few days after she gave birth to Stefan, and her untimely death had been rendered unusual."

Now I was getting a little frustrated. Why couldn't he just cut to the chase?

"Unusual how?" I asked trying to control how eager my voice sounded, not wanting to make my thirst for the knowledge he was currently sharing with me too obvious.

"During my parents' marriage, my mother….was secretly having an affair."

My eyes widened, having not expected that response. "How did you know?"

"I wasn't aware of the concept at the time, being that I was so young, but I have recollections of her leaving the house in the middle of the night for reasons she didn't voice, being out in the town for a large part of the day unless father made a point of telling her to be there at a certain time. And it wasn't as if it would have been illogical to seek affections elsewhere." His black eyes hardened, and that immediately told me he was growing angry as he thought back through his old memories. "My father…wasn't exactly the ideal husband. He abused her, and hardly ever paid too much attention to her unless he was in the need of something. She wasn't at all happy with her life or marriage."

I had to resist the urge to hug him, or at least reach out and try to hold his hand. I could tell that recalling these memories wasn't exactly a pleasant experience for him.

"How does that tie in with Drina?"

He closed his eyes. "The man that my mother was having the affair with…his name was Dante Barone, and he was a well-known warlock in that time, and a very powerful one at that. But he was a rogue, and had no connections with the clan. King Christian once saw it as an opportunity to win over a highly skilled warlock onto the vampires' side in their feud with the witches, but he refused the offer. Because of how long his affair with my mother had been going on…King Christian believed there was a possibility that he was my biological father."

"Were you?" I timidly asked. The idea was almost…sad, in a way. It would have meant that he and Stefan were only half brothers; with the same mother, but different fathers.

But it also meant that it was possible that Damon had warlock genes in him.

Damon shook his head. "There was no way to tell back then. However, Drina was sent by her husband to observe me in secret, so she posed as a nanny looking for work in order to get closer to me. King Christian had hoped that if Dante _was_ my father, then perhaps I would eventually develop his skill and powers, and that I could be of use to him once I was grown. The theory was even further proven when my mother was found dead in bed after only a few days after she had given birth to Stefan. Some believed that…. " He paused, still keeping his eyes closed at his fist clenched in restrained rage. "That my father knew about her affair, and had planned on getting rid of her as soon as he found out about. But the fact that she was carrying Stefan bought her a few months."

I had to hold back a horrified gasp. "You think he _murdered_ your mother somehow?"

"That's precisely what I think."

And though it was faint, and hardly noticeable, I could now see a hint of lingering sadness in his dark eyes, and my resolve finally broke. I reached out my hand and linked it with his, smiling up at him in what I hoped was a comforting fashion.

He managed a small, thin smile back before continuing with the story. "However, about ten years after Drina took the job, she quickly began to realize that even though there was a chance that Dante could be my father, I had none of his magical ability. I was of no use to her husband."

I knew from examples back at the clan that not having magical abilities was no indication that Damon's father hadn't been Dante. It was very possible for a warlock or a witch to have non-magical children, especially if one of the parents was non-magical like his mother had been.

"So did she leave after that?"

Damon shook his head. "No. She had been preparing to, but her plans were put on halt when I had fallen ill with the bubonic plague at the age of twenty. She had grown to…care for me and Stefan during the years she acted as our nanny, and she hadn't wanted to see me die, so she gave me the option of allowing her to turn me and join the world of vampires."

I nodded. "And you said yes?"

"Of course. And contrary to normal belief, it hadn't been a difficult decision. I had wanted to join her world even before I had fallen ill. I didn't belong in the world I was currently in. I always knew that."

I didn't ask him to elaborate on that, because I had a feeling I already knew what he was talking about. His father had no doubt suspected that Damon hadn't been his biological son due to finding out the truth about his wife's affair with another man, and thus, probably didn't treat him as well as he treated Stefan. Leaving the human world might have even been somewhat of a relief for him.

"How did Stefan become a vampire?"

I knew it must have happened sometime soon after Damon had become one. Stefan still looked like he was younger than Damon when he was turned, so he couldn't have gotten too much older before he became one as well.

"I turned him," Damon replied flatly, though his brow now furrowed in sudden thought. "Only a few weeks after my transformation, he had requested me to, and I abided to his wishes."

"Did he tell you why he wanted you to?"

"Something about not wanting to be left alone with father after Drina and I had made our leave. I can't say that I blamed him."

Despite my efforts to try to hold it back, a bright smile flashed across his face. I had a feeling that, despite Damon seeming to be clueless towards it, Stefan wanting to become a vampire had a lot more to do with wanting to stay with his brother than it did simply not wanting to stay with his father. The two of them obviously cared about each other more than they let on.

Damon frowned. "What are you smiling about, redbird?"

I shook my head quickly, though the smile still lingered. "Nothing, nothing." I paused, before a thought suddenly popped back into my mind. "How does this story connect to Klaus and Katherine?"

"We're getting there."

* * *

**Damon**

**The vampire realm, 1546**

_After a year of grueling training on both his and Stefan's part from Drina, they were now both finally permitted to officially enter their new lives._

_Or he should now say existence. Their human lives had ended a year ago, after all._

"_There are some people I would like you to meet before I show you both off to your quarters," Drina said smoothly, as the three of them walked the hallways of the castle. "And that includes my husband, King Christian."_

_King Christian. Damon had heard enough about him, but he had never actually come face to face to the vampire king. And if he was being completely truthful with himself….the thought of him unnerved him slightly, though he would never admit that out load. He knew full well now that the king had originally sent Drina to look after them to see if he possessed any magical ability…only to find out he hadn't any. Would he be seen as a disappointment?_

_Drina led him and his brother into a large room, the mess hall he later discovered, and inside sat a large table, which seated four vampires. Two dirty blonde males, a female, and another golden haired male._

_It was fairly obvious which one was King Christian._

"_This is my son, Sage," Drina said pointedly, gesturing towards the golden haired male as she, Damon, and Stefan took their own seats at the round table. "And the lovely woman to his left is Lady Katherine, next to her, Sir Klaus, and lastly, King Christian, my husband."_

_The Salvatore brothers exchange respectful nods towards everyone that had been introduced, and almost immediately, the blonde male, Klaus, spoke up._

"_Queen Drina, with all due respect, my lady, do you really assume it was wise to bring these two mediocre, new vampires to a meeting of this much importance? Surely they wouldn't be much use to us now, now that we know the older one has not inherited any of Warlock Dante Barone's gifts?"_

_Silence passed over the table, until Damon, bravely and impulsively, broke it abruptly._

"_With all due respect, Sir Klaus, but you have not witnessed what my brother and I are capable of. I would hold my tongue and judgment for the time being, if I were you."_

_The reactions were all different. Sage, Drina, and Christian were surprised, Stefan horrified, Klaus enraged, and Katherine was snickering silently, putting a hand over her mouth to attempt to cover most of it._

"_You will need to quickly learn your place, BOY," Klaus said silently, though deadly. "I'm the one with power here. And you will learn your place…even if I have to be the one to teach the lesson."_

"_That was a pretty brave thing to do, you know. Stupid…but brave."_

_Damon turned sharply around at the feminine voice coming from behind him. He had been making his way to his new quarters that Drina had showed him to earlier when he had heard the voice coming from behind him._

_Once turned around, in his view, was Lady Katherine, a sinister, though somewhat charming smile filtered across her pink, full lips._

_Damon frowned. "What do you want?"_

_Katherine laughed. "Just wanted to congratulate you on your outburst against Klaus during the meeting. No one has ever done something to that degree before."_

_Damon duly noted that unlike everyone else in the castle so far, Katherine referred to Klaus as just "Klaus" instead of "Sir Klaus." He'd be lying if it didn't intrigue him somehow._

"_Well, I'm not one to be intimidated easily," he replied flatly and honestly._

"_I can tell."_

_Silence passed between them, and it immediately frustrated the newly turned vampire. Why wouldn't she just get to the point?_

"_I like you Damon," she suddenly said. "We haven't officially spoken until now, but I've been observing you. You have…a fire about you, a power. You remind me very much of myself." She paused again, looking behind her as if to make sure no one else was listening in on their conversation, before dropping her voice to a whisper so low that human ears would not be able to pick it up. "And that's why I would like to propose an offer and a deal to you."_

_Damon's eyebrows rose, interested. "What deal?"_

_Katherine smirked. "I have my own agenda against our dear advisor Klaus. He's a tyrant, constantly abusing his power, thinking he's entitled to order the rest of us around, and it has grown quite tiresome." She leaned a fraction closer. "And I think, between the two of us, we can bring him down from his position. And then possibly, you and your brother could become advisors in his place."_

_Damon smirked back, the endless possibilities immediately running through his head. _

_Before another thought suddenly occurred to him, and his suspicion flared back up somewhat._

"_What's in it for you?"_

"_The satisfaction of seeing good old Klausy being knocked down from his power and…." He blue eyes seemed to flash. "You and Stefan will put in a good word for me and attempt to convince the royals to appoint me as an advisor as well."_

"_And what is this plan of yours."_

"_You'll see. Now…do we have a deal, Damon Salvatore?" She took out her hand, offering a handshake._

_And without hesitation, Damon shook it. "Yes, we do."_

_And then Katherine suddenly pressed her cool lips to his._

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

"Wait…you and Katherine…were together at some point?"

I knew it was ridiculous that out of all of the things Damon had just revealed to me that was the subject I had chose to comment on first. As shallow as it seemed though, I couldn't help it.

Damon frowned. "I wouldn't have called it a _relationship. _More of a partnership….with certain benefits from time to time."

Still…it stung. I knew I was foolish and naïve to hope that I had been the only person Damon had ever been in a relationship in, considering how long he has been on the earth, but it still hurt a little. I knew from how he described it, it had been more of a friends with benefits type of thing, but why, out of all people, did it have to be _Katherine?_

Sensing my discomfort, Damon reached out and stroked my cheek softly. "Redbird, Katherine meant little to nothing to me, and she still doesn't. We only put up with each other to achieve a mutual goal we had; to take down Klaus."

I looked up at him sharply. "Did you take him down?"

Damon nodded. "Yes and…." He trailed off, and something that almost looked like shame flickered in his dark orbs. "I'm not proud of the things I did in order to accomplish our goal."

I was a little afraid of the answer I was going to get, but somewhat, I felt like I _needed _to know. "What kinds of things did you do?"

"Poisoned and murdered guests and officials. Ruined royal events. And during the war, I slaughtered many witches and warlocks unmercifully," he replied, looking at me earnestly and almost…pleadingly. "I do not wish to hide things from you any longer. That is the complete, brutal truth."

I stiffened. I had known about Damon's violent history during many battles of the war from stories told about him back at the clan. But hearing it in his own words seemed to make the stories all the more real.

"Just…continue with the story. Please."

I didn't want to think about what he had just confessed to me just yet.

He sighed, but cooperated with my request, continuing his story.

"Long story short, Katherine and I eventually succeeded in taking down Klaus from his position, and Stefan and I, due to Drina's request, were quickly appointed as new advisors, above him. And then shortly after, we worked out a deal to get Katherine appointed as well."

I sucked in a small gulp of breath. "So that's why Klaus hates you? And why he's always trying to confront me?"

"Yes. He always suspected that Katherine and I were responsible for his downfall, but he never had a way to prove it to the royals, and they didn't believe him. Since then, he's been discreetly trying to find ways to see his revenge on me."

Damon then reached out and took my hand into his, giving it a gentle squeeze. "And now he has suspicions towards how much you mean to me. There's no doubt that he will try to use you to get to me, and…." He trailed off, seeming at a loss of words before continuing, his voice having dropped an octave. "I wouldn't be able to bear it if he ever harmed you."

He then suddenly pulled me into his arms, and kissed the top of my head, and I simply melted into his arms, closing my eyes and just relishing the feeling of his arms being wrapped securely around me.

"I love you Damon," I said smoothly and easily, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to say. And it was, now."

"As I love you, my little redbird," he replied, leaning down to give me a soft, short kiss on the lips before leaning slightly back.

Though I secretly wished he would kiss me again, I leaned a little as well, still having a few more questions.

"But why are you so sure that Katherine won't tell the royals about…me killing the vampire?"

"Because she's well aware that I can easily inform the royals of her acts of treason during our plan to take down Klaus all that time ago," Damon replied smoothly. "She knows that if I go down, she'll be going down with me."

I nodded, satisfied with the answer. "And…." I shook my head and blushed in mild embarrassment, unable to believe that I was about to ask this last question. "Did your…._partnership _with Katherine end after she, you, and Stefan became advisors?"

Damon chucked. "It ended a few years later. After we discovered that the royals were thinking about linking us to each other in an arranged marriage."

"_What?"_

He held up his hands in a mock surrender. "The engagement was never put into action. We both simply refused. Katherine…wasn't one to commit herself to a relationship."

"And neither were you," I murmured sullenly.

"No," he admitted casually. "I wasn't. Not until I met you, at least."

I blushed again, but this time, in a good way.

* * *

**Meredith**

**Three days later**

"They _always _put me in green dresses," Bonnie complained lightly as she looked at herself in the mirror, eyeing her glittery, flowing, satin green dress.

"Green is your color, Bonnie," Elena said casually, coming over to stand next to her friend, wearing a blue, satin dress that nicely complimented her lapis lazuli's eyes. "It looks good."

Bonnie smiled in flattery at the compliment. "Still…would it kill them to try another color on me?"

The three of them were getting ready to attend the royal engagement party that was currently being held. It would be the first time since their arrival that the girls would be openly shown to the public of the vampire realm, in celebration to their engagement with their future vampire husbands.

But Meredith's mind was focused on something else entirely, to the point where she hardly looked down at her own party dress that she was currently wearing, which was a dark, rose red.

She was thinking about the locket that was currently sitting in a keepsake chest in her bedroom back in Sage's quarters. The locket that Queen Drina had given her before mysteriously disappearing before she could ask about it.

"Have either of you seen Queen Drina recently?" She randomly asked, looking towards her two best friends.

Bonnie looked perplexed as she shook her head no, and Elena narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

Meredith shrugged, feigning casualty. "It's just strange, I think. She's the queen, but she has hardly made an appearance these last few days." Which was the truth.

Bonnie shrugged, not seeming to think much of it. "Maybe she's been busy."

Before any of the girls could say another word to each other, the door to the dressing room was ripped open, Katherine appearing in the doorway.

"The royals are requesting your presence at the party. Are all three of you ready?"

They all nodded in unison.

"Good," Katherine huffed, before ushering all three of them out the door. As she was doing so, Meredith noticed that her eyes vaguely lingered on Bonnie for a few seconds longer than necessary, and her protective instincts flared. What was that about?

But the dark haired witch didn't have much time to linger on it, because faster than she could even form coherent thoughts on it, the three young witches were pushed into the mess hall, and all three of their eyes widened at the sight before them.

The large room was filled to the brim with vampires, but luckily, none of them seemed to pay too much attention to them, too busy talking amongst themselves, and drinking.

Suddenly, a hand gripped her arm, and she turned sharply to see Sage standing next to her, smiling at her charmingly. "You know that it's a custom for us to dance at this fine event, don't you?" When she said nothing in response, he sighed and handed out his hand to her. "May I have this dance, Miss Sulez?"

From the corner of her vision, Meredith could see that Stefan and Damon had both shown up to ask Elena and Bonnie to dance as well, and unlike her, both of her friends had eagerly accepted the offers, and were currently being escorted onto the dance floor.

Seeing that, she let out a sigh, and nodded at Sage, placing her hand in his. "I accept."

His golden eyes glittering with what looked like immense relief, Sage then gently pulled her closer to him, before they walked hand in hand towards the dance floor in the trail of the others.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

"I didn't know you were such a good dancer Damon," I said, letting out a small giggle as he dipped me, before gently but firmly pulling me back up to twirl me.

"When you have lived as long as I have, redbird, you tend to pick up skills such as this," Damon replied with a wink, pulling me closer to him.

I bit my lip nervously. "Well, I hope you don't mind leading the whole time, because I _can't _dance, at all."

Damon gave a short laugh, but before he could form a reply, his eyes suddenly narrowed angrily as he seemed to gaze at something behind me.

"What?" I asked confusingly, as I turned around to see what he was looking at. And the sight took me by complete surprise.

"Matt?!"

My childhood friend, and former crush smiled slightly, but there was a nervous sadness in his eyes. "Hey Bonnie."

"What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, but I thought…."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about." He gripped my hand, ignoring the death glare that Damon was currently shooting him. "Can we go someplace and talk…please? It'll only be for a few minutes, if you want."

I nodded, and then turned back towards Damon, leaning up on my toes to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll be right back, okay?"

"Alright," he murmured moodily, and I rolled my eyes before turning back towards Matt. "Okay, let's go."

I allowed him to lead me away from the center of the party.

"Where are you taking me?" I asked, as we ventured out of the mess hall and into the hallway.

"We're almost there. There's someone you need to see," Matt replied, and in only a few seconds later, I saw who he meant.

Standing in the middle of the hallway, were my parents.

"Mom? Dad?" I nearly yelped, shock filling my every being. This was almost more surprising than seeing Matt appear randomly on the dance floor.

"Bonnie….sweetheart," my mom murmured, tears clearly glistening in her light brown eyes. "I'm so incredibly sorry…."

I didn't let her finish her sentence, because at that moment, I threw myself into my parents' arms, tears of my own burning my eyes.

"I'm so glad you guys are here," I whisper, and glanced at Matt to make sure I meant him as well. "But, why…"

"We came here to correct our mistakes, Bonnie," Matt said, looking at me earnestly.

"Honey…we love you, no matter who you marry," said slowly, ruffling his daughter's hair. "And…even though we may not like it, if your vampire makes you happy…then we will try to be happy for you."

I hugged my parents tighter, and then gestured at Matt to join in on the group hug. "That's all I ever wanted."

* * *

**Damon**

Damon tried to contain his jealousy as he watched _his _future bride take off with her little warlock friend, and old crush.

It wasn't that he believed the boy could still her from him, because obviously, he stood no chance. But still…there was something about it that unnerved him.

Suddenly, he felt a tap at his shoulder, and he turned to see his brother standing beside him, his green eyes hard with seriousness.

"Damon, we need to go down the throne room, _now. _Something terrible has happened."

Damon narrowed his eyes as he sensed the utter grief that laced his younger brother's words. "What is it?"

"You…you'll see. Just come on."

Albeit reluctantly, Damon allowed his brother to pull him out of the mess hall and into the hallway. He only hoped that his little redbird wouldn't be too confused at his absence.

When they finally reached the throne room, Damon started in utter shock and horror at the sight before him.

Drina. The ex witch, vampire queen, and his undercover childhood nanny laid dead on the floor of the throne room, a stake impaled into the part of her body where her heart would be.

And King Christian stood over her, a look of complete grief and untamed anger in his eyes as he regarded his slain wife.

"I want to know who had any knowledge of this. Any at all. _Now."_

His voice boomed loudly throughout the huge throne room, and Damon was sure that the whole castle could hear it.

It was then that Katherine, with a sullen look on her face that Damon knew for sure was fake, stepped up, carrying a jagged, makeshift stake in her hand.

"I found this in Master Damon's quarters, my lord. I had my own suspicions that he was hiding something, and made the decision to investigate. I am unsure if it was what killed the queen, but it wouldn't hurt to take a look, would it?"

Damon froze in utter anger and shock as he forced back an icy glare in Katherine's direction. What the _hell _was she doing? With a horrific realization, it occurred to him that it looked like the same exact stake Bonnie had used to kill the rogue vampire. How had Katherine gotten her hands on it?

Without saying a word, King Christian took the stake, and looked back down to examine his late wife's lethal wounds, before looking back at the weapon, nodding his head in confirmation.

"This is indeed the weapon that was used." He then looked towards Damon, his icy anger clear. "And it _does _have your aura on it, Damon."

All eyes in the room were now on him.

Damon sucked in a breath. "My lord," began seriously, stepping forward bravely. "You don't believe I would ever slay Queen Drina, do you?"

And to be truthful, he was a bit hurt at the idea of the king believing he would kill Drina. Drina hadn't just been a queen to him, after all. She had also been his savior, in more ways than one.

King Christian shook his head. "I suppose not. But I do believe that it's likely that you knew the owner of this weapon, and who most likely murdered my wife."

With how perceptive the king was, Damon knew he couldn't get out of this by completely lying his way out.

"I do know who first used the weapon," he replied truthfully, but the next part would be a lie. There was no way Bonnie had killed Drina, and he wasn't going to allow them to suspect her of it and put her in danger by saying she had first used it. "I believe he was a rogue vampire. I caught him in my quarters one night, but I chased him off without too much of a problem."

"And you did nothing to stop him or finish him off?"

He shook his head. "I didn't see him as much of a threat."

"And now because of your foolishness, my wife is now dead," King Christian snarled, eyes hardening to even harder shells.

"You will pay for this Damon. I shall not execute you, simply because I know how much you meant to my queen, but your ignorance will not go unpunished. Prepare for the consequences."

* * *

**A/N: Uh oh, Damon's in trouble. What do you think is going to be his punishment? And what other consequences will be faced? How do you feel about Katherine betraying him, and what do you think he'll do about her?**

**The next chapter is going to have a plot twist that will change the course of this story for good. LOT's of stuff will be going down. And because it's going to be so twisty, I'm afraid I can't give out sneak peeks this time without giving important stuff away. SO, I have another idea.**

**By the end of the story, one of the girls will become a vampire, and one will get pregnant. I'm not going to tell you how or why it happens, but I will tell you the name of the girl for one of them.**

**So when you review, pick ONE of these questions, and I will tell you the answer via PM:**

**Which girl ends up pregnant?**

**Which girl becomes a vampire?**

**Thank you to everyone who is still supporting this story, despite how lame I am at updating. :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: So yeah...it's been almost a year since I last updated *Dodges pitch forks*. I'm just going to be completely honest with everyone...i've kind of lost my passion for this story, but I know a large part of that is my fault from refraining to write for it for so long. But despite that, i'm going to finish it for you guys because I know you all deserve to read an ending to it after sticking with it for so long. I'm hoping to finish it up in 10 chapters or less (and the chapters are going to be shorter than normal in order to update faster. I know everyone is probably ready for the story to just wrap up already lol).**

* * *

Bonnie's POV

Tears streamed down my cheeks at a rapid pace as I watched the horrible scene happening in front of me.

Damon was hunched over as the whip hit his back repeatedly and viciously, causing gruesome gashes to appear on his bare body.

Most of the crowd jeered and clapped each time, but all I could think about was somehow getting down there to stop it.

I let out another sob at the sight of a particularly bad gash and struggled against Stefan's grasp. "Let me go."

The three of us, me, Elena, and Stefan, were standing in the royal stadium as we watched King Christian dish out Damon's punishment...for a crime that he did not commit.

"You can't go down there Bonnie," Stefan said gently, continuing to restrain me. ""You'll only end up making it worse."

I shook my head frantically, seeming to be unable to fully comprehend what he was trying to tell me. "No...I...I can fix it somehow! I can do a spell..."

"No," Elena suddenly said firmly, her eyes icy with determination as she stepped in front of me. "Stefan is right. You need to stay here. You can talk to Damon once it's all over. He'll be okay."

It was times like these where I always wished Meredith was around. She always seemed to have a way of calming me down more than anyone else I knew. Unfortunately, Meredith was not here. She was off comforting Sage over the loss of his mother...or at least trying to after the loss of his mother.

But now, Elena's firm although gentle stance against me was enough to calm me slightly. I stopped struggling against Stefan's grasp and instead, opted to simply look away from the scene, trying to ignore the sound of the whip hitting flesh.

* * *

After it was over, Elena and Stefan escorted me back to Damon's quarters. Damon had been dragged off the scene shortly after the whipping had finally ceased. I had desperately wanted to follow them but the kind had ordered everyone else to stay in the stadium until everything was cleared.

"Where do you think they took him?" I worriedly asked Stefan in a quiet voice as the three of us descended down the hallways.

"I don't know," Stefan admitted softly, his own green eyes filled with worry about the fate of his older brother. "Hopefully they took him back to the quarters. For now...we need to hurry. The lock-down is going to begin soon."

After the whipping, King Christian had ordered a lock-down to take place in thirty minutes and everyone had to be inside their quarters or chambers. Everyone who was outside in the hallways after that time would be arrested and punished.

I had told Elena and Stefan that I would be fine going back to the quarters alone but they hadn't wanted to leave me by myself, concerned over my fragile state of mind after witnessing Damon's whipping.

Eventually, we finally came across Damon's quarters and I turned towards them with a small, somewhat forced smile. "Thank you."

Elena smiled and gave me a tight hug. "You're welcome. Hang in there Bonnie. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

It was clear that she was worried about leaving me alone but she didn't have much of a choice. I nodded. "Okay."

She kissed the top of my head and then allowed Stefan to lace his arm through hers, guiding her away. I watched them leave for a few moments before opening the door of the quarters and forcing myself inside, my body shaking.

* * *

**Damon**

The vampire's attention instantly peaked at the sound of the door swinging open and someone stepping inside.

His little bird was home. Although he was relieved, he was also a bit concerned.

He was well aware of the fact that she had witnessed everything that had happened at the stadium, since King Christian had made it a mandatory event. And he was still not in a very good shape. He hoped that seeing him wouldn't shock her too much.

"Little redbird," he hoarsely called out. Despite his reservations towards her seeing him, he couldn't help but long for her.

When she finally stepped into his line of view, her warm brown eyes, as expected, widened in horror and surprise, and tears began to cascade down her pale cheeks.

"Oh Damon!"

She quickly ran to where he was seating in his armchair, gently throwing her arms around him as she continued to sob.

"Shhh." He murmured lowly as he wrapped his arms gently around her soothingly, stroking her fiery curls as he did so. "It'a alright, little bird."

She shook her head frantically. "How can you say that?! No, it's not alright. They...they hurt you. And look at you! Why aren't you healing?"

"It'll heal eventually. It's just taking a bit longer because they used vervain engraved whips," he said weakly, trying to comfort her. But it did little to soothe her.

"Will...taking some of my blood help?" She eventually asked through her tears.

"Perhaps. But I do not wish to take too much..."

"You will take as much as you need," she shot back in a surprisingly firm voice. She then moved some of her red curls to the side, exposing her pale neck and moving closer to him. When he hesitated, she spoke once more in a shaky whisper. "Damon please. I...I can handle it. I promise."

Damon sighed. Deep down, he wasn't entirely sure why he was so concerned about taking some of her blood...it certainly wouldn't be the first time he had done it. But something about it, in this moment and time, unnerved him slightly.

However, the temptation her pretty neck created proved to be too much for him in the end and he leaned forward to gently sink his fangs into it.

As usual, she let out a small gasp at the initial sharpness but quickly relaxed a few seconds later.

Damon wrapped his arms lightly around her, his fangs still buried in her neck as he began to drink.

As always, her blood was sweet and utterly addicting. In order to make the experience more pleasurable for her, he began to project soothing and pleasurable images and thoughts into her mind. Creating auras to show her how much he appreciated this and how much he loved her.

Eventually, in order to prevent himself from taking too much, he slowly retracted his fangs from her skin, licking the small wound on her neck lightly with his tongue in order to help it heal, causing her to let out a small gasp.

"Did it help?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

Damon took a moment to ponder her question before he answered. Did he feel better? Yes, of course he did. His strength wasn't completely back but but it would require far too much blood from her to get to that point now. So it would have to wait.

"I feel better," he eventually responded, giving her a light grateful peck to the lips. "Thank you little redbird."

"You're welcome." She cuddled further into him. "I only want you to be okay."

"And I will be, thanks to you."

Silence ensued between them for a few moments before Bonnie, with a very prominent blush on her face, turned to ask him a question.

"Damon...can we go upstairs? To the bedroom?"

He was mildly surprised by her bluntness but quickly reacted to her request and scooped her up into his arms despite his slight lack of strength and carried her upstairs.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

My heart was racing at a rapid speed as Damon carried me upstairs. Seeing him whipped today had awoken something strong within me...made me realize even more than before how important Damon was to me and how terrible it would be for me to ever lose him. And well...that train of thinking had awoken other desires within me as well.

When we reached the bedroom he deposited on the soft, large bed and I smiled at him. This was exactly where i'd hoped he'd put me.

"Come here," I ordered lightly and let out a small giggle when he obeyed and gently pressed his lips to mine.

We kissed for a short time before I reluctantly pulled away from him, looking deeply into those dark eyes of his. "I want you to make love to me Damon."

Time seemed to freeze after I said the words and for a short time, neither of us said anything. I was waiting for him to respond and I could only hope that it would be the response I was hoping it would be.

"Little bird...where is this coming from?"

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

I was starting to get anxious. Did he not want me? I understood why he had stopped us last time...it hadn't been the right time then. But it was now. I could _feel _it in my every being.

Damon sighed, one of his hands now reaching out to stroke my hair again.

"I only want what's best for you. And...this seems to be coming out of nowhere. I don't want you to do something that you will regret later."

I shook my head rapidly. "Damon, no. I _want _this. I've actually been thinking about it for a while now." I could feel a blush coming on. "Don't...don't you want me?"

I was becoming increasingly afraid that the reason he was still avoiding it was because he didn't have the same drive and need for me that I had for him.

He narrowed his eyes, as if he found my question ridiculous. "Redbird, I know you have trouble reading signs at times, but surely you are not that blind. Of course I want you."

"Then why are you avoiding this so much?"

He sighed once again. "I want you...believe me I do. But I want the time and setting to be right for you...for it to _not _happen simply because you are on an emotional plight."

"Damon." I placed my hands on top of his, my eyes locking with his midnight dark ones. "Yes, I was worried and scared when you were getting whipped. I...I didn't like seeing them hurt you like that. But I don't want to sleep with you because of that...I want to sleep with you because I love you."

I try to prove my point further and suddenly lean up to kiss him again, wrapping my arms around his neck as my lips pressed against his passionately.

It took him a few seconds to kiss back, and I wasn't sure if his hesitance was out of surprise or reservations. But eventually, he began to move his lips against mine in return, and along with that, I could feel the wall he had placed around himself to hold back on his desires break.

We kissed until I was nearly completely out of breath and in order to allow me to breathe, we both reluctantly broke apart, and my hands went to the hem of his shirt, frantically trying to take it off. He chuckled lowly at my frustration when I am unable to easily do it, and soothed me by taking it off himself, pulling it up over his head and throwing it onto the ground.

The flush on my cheeks deepened at the sight of his shirtless torso and I shyly begin to rub my hands along it, gasping at the hardness of it. I could sense Damon smiling smugly at me and before I could say a word, I feel his hands suddenly trail underneath my shirt, his fingers playing with the strap of my bra. I let out a small moan of both surprise and pleasure at his touch. "Oh..."

He paused in his ministrations to gaze into my eyes seriously. "If you ever wish to stop, just say so and we will."

I smiled sweetly at him. "I will. But I don't think i'm going to tell you to stop."

He shot me his infamous 500 kilowatt smile before kissing me again, his hands working on taking my shirt completely off afterwards.

Time seemed to blur by as we continued to take off each others clothing and while I was nervous, I knew without a doubt that this was what I wanted. To make love with Damon...my future husband and the love of my life. I never believed when I first got here that I would ever be happy with our engagement, but now I couldn't imagine my life without him.

When we were both stripped completely naked, Damon hovered over me for a few moments, smiling at me gently and leaning down to softly stroke my cheek with his thumb.

"I love you, my little redbird."

I was smiling so wide that it almost hurt. "I love you too...so much."

Boldly, I then wrapped my legs around him to bring him closer to me and then, eventually, lost myself in the feeling of us finally becoming one.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah I suck at writing sex scenes so that's as good as it's going to get. Sorry lol. I know this chapter turned out not to have a lot of substance and it was mainly just Bamon fluff, and I apologize for that. I just really wanted to get the chapter out to you guys FINALLY. And yes, it was short, but all of the chapters are going to be kind of short from now on so I can just finish the story (hopefully by the end of this summer at the latest). **

**Next chapter:**

**- Bamon morning after before their happiness gets shattered by the news of Damon's other punishment.**

**- Meredith comforts Sage and comes to a few conclusions of her own as to who Queen Drina's killer was. **

**- Stefan and Elena share a surprising intimate moment. **

**I'll be working on the next chapter diligently and will try to have it up sometime next week. I really want to finally get this story completely finished for everyone. Once again, I am truly sorry for nearly abandoing this story and thank you to everyone who has been patient with me. **

**PS: Also if you reviewed and I didn't respond to you, I am truly sorry. I kind of lost track of the reviews to this story because of how long it's been. My bad. **


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

**Bonnie's POV**

I woke up to the feeling of Damon's fingers running though my hair and a smile instantly stretched its way across my lips as I leaned back into his bare chest.

Last night had been...well, it had been _amazing. _It wasn't perfect since it had been my first time, but it would go down as being one of the best nights of my life all the same. The feeling of Damon's hands caressing my unclothed body, the way our lips had pressed together, and most of all, the way we had finally become one would forever be etched into my mind.

"How do you feel?" Damon asked suddenly, his voice a bit husky due to the fact that we had just woken up.

I turned around in his embrace and kissed the side of his jaw, the smile from before still on my lips as I answered his question. "I feel wonderful. Just...a little sore," I admitted, blushing lightly. The only reason I had even said the words was so I could make sure that what I was feeling _was _normal.

Damon chuckled and leaned forward to give me a soft peck to the lips. "I figured as much. Although, I hope you aren't too sore." His dark eyes flashed in obvious concern.

I placed a comforting hand on top of his. "I'm not...you were very gentle and loving to me and...it made me love you even more."

"I love you as well, little redbird."

We then kissed for a little while until, to my dismay, Damon pulled away, a deep sigh sounding from his throat. "I should probably make my leave soon...I have an errand to attend."

It was clear from his voice that he said the words reluctantly and that he didn't want to leave just as much as I didn't want him to go, but that didn't make it much better. I let out a small noise of protest and buried my head into his chest. "No."

Damon kissed the top of my head. "I don't want to leave, believe me. But...it is rather important. However, I will return shortly and it would please me very much if you decided to stay in this bed and wait for me...clothes off, of course."

There was a flirtatious tint to his last words that made me blush and giggle. I breathed out a sigh. "Okay. I'll wait for you."

"Good." He tilted my chin up to give me one last kiss before leaving the bed to begin dressing himself. "It would be a shame if I didn't get the privilege to be rewarded with the sight of you naked in my bed after getting back from my errand which is sure to be tedious."

I was beginning to have the notion that it was a goal of his to see how many times he could make me blush in one morning.

"Well, it's a good thing that you won't have to go through that," I replied softly, attempting my own flirt.

As he continued to dress himself, I leaned back in the bed and watched. It was times like these where the physical attractiveness of my future husband really hit me...he was beautiful. Now, as I took the time to really observe his body, it once again struck me how much it reminded me of a Greek God of some sort...based on the pictures i've seen anyway.

"I will return shortly," he said, his hand on the door handle as he prepared to exit the room.

I still didn't want him to leave but I managed a small smile in his direction. "Okay. Hurry back."

* * *

**Elena**

Elena rubbed the back of Stefan's neck as she approached him from behind.

She was worried about him. The green eyed vampire had been sitting on the couch and staring into the fireplace for a while now and Elena knew it was because he was thinking about his brother.

"Hey," she eventually said softly after receiving no verbal response from him after multiple seconds had passed by.

At the sound of her voice, Stefan turned his head to face her, his forest green eyes instantly widening a small fraction in surprise. "Elena...you're up early."

She really wasn't. This was actually the most common frame of time that she normally got up in the morning, but Stefan didn't know that. After her parents had lashed out at her in that letter, she had been simply shutting herself into her room for long hours into the morning, refusing to come out.

"It's not that early," Elena replied flatly before walking over to sit beside the gentle vampire. "I'm worried about you."

When he said nothing in response, she sighed. "Damon will be okay...you said so yourself. He was important to Queen Drina and because of that, the king would never have him killed."

"I know that, but...I can't help but worry that his punishment isn't finished. Although the whipping was terrible, I have a bad feeling that it's far from over."

Elena's voice was softer and quiet as she responded this time. "We have no way of knowing what exactly will happen right now but Stefan...you can't just sit here and starve yourself. Damon would be furious if he knew you hadn't fed since yesterday morning."

That was another problem. Stefan had been depriving himself of blood ever since he had heard the news of Queen Drina's death, and Elena could easily tell that the lack of blood was taking its toll on him. He was pale...far more pale than normal and his eyes had a drained look about them.

Cautiously, Elena scooted closer to him and firmly pressed her lips to his.

She could sense and feel his hesitation. It saddened her. She was just about to pull herself away when he finally began to reciprocate the kiss, gently cupping her right cheek with one of his hands and moving his lips tenderly against hers. The kiss grew a bit more heated and urgent and just when Elena was about to part her lips under his, she felt a sharp nip at her bottom lip.

"Ow."

They broke the kiss and Elena placed a finger on the part of her lip where she had felt the prick, realizing that a small amount of blood was beginning to seep from it. And after taking another glance at Stefan, she noticed that his fangs had extended at some point during the kiss.

"Sorry," he said, looking truly shameful and apologetic. "I..."

Elena let out a short laugh. "I told you that it wasn't a good idea to go so long without drinking any blood, but i'm alright." She couldn't help but think about how bad her reaction to something like this would have been in the recent past and for a brief few seconds, couldn't believe that she was reacting so calmly to it now. But then again, she had never imagined it would be possible for her to love a vampire and yet, here she was.

A small glint of nervousness filtered into her icy blue eyes. "Do you crave my blood?"

Stefan shot her a cautious look before answering. "Yes," he admitted, obviously begrudgingly. "But Elena, I would never..."

"Here," Elena said, pushing down her shirt a little to reveal her slender neck. "You need it, Stefan."

He hesitated, as she had expected him to. But surprisingly, he didn't resist his urge and instinct as much as she had believed he would. He _must _have been hungry.

He bit into her neck gently but with an urgency that told her he was desperate for a taste of her blood...to unhinge some of the burden his self-starvation had caused him. Despite the new experience, the pain wasn't nearly as bad as Elena had expected it to be and it quickly passed, only drawing out a single gasp from her before her mindset melted into peaceful...bliss. She let out a sigh, this time of content, before she allowed herself to fall into Stefan's arms as he continued to drink from her.

As it continued, Elena could sense something strange beginning to happen...strange but wonderful. There were images and thoughts being projected into her mind...images that made her feel the warmth of Stefan's love for her. Now, she had almost completely forgotten about the fact that she was currently allowing a vampire to bite her and instead, focused on that warm, peaceful feeling.

After a few more moments had passed, Stefan slowly and carefully retracted his fangs from Elena's skin and moved away from her a few fractions.

Elena could already see that color had returned to his face and that his eyes were no longer bloodshot. He had really needed the blood.

"Don't touch it. It'll heal on its own in only a few moments," he instructed when her hand almost reached up and ghosted across the small wound on the side of her neck out of pure curiosity.

But nevertheless, she nodded and obeyed his instructions, placing her hand back down into her lap with the other one.

"While you were biting me...I felt strange. But it was a good kind of strange," she was quick to add. "It felt like...I was floating. And I could feel a sense of warmth and comfort. Was that because of something you did?"

Stefan nodded. "It was. It's...something i'm able to do to make the people I drink from more comfortable."

Elena didn't like that particular wording. She had hoped that the feeling she had was _special_, not felt by everyone Stefan had ever bitten. A coy look stretched across her expression. "It is _exactly _the same for everyone you drink from?" She was going to be more than a little disappointed if his answer ended up being 'yes'.

But Stefan, to Elena's relief and happiness, shook his head. "No, it isn't. I've actually never done something like that with anyone before." He had an almost...bashful look on his face now and if it wasn't for the fact that he was a vampire, Elena swore that he would be blushing. In response, she scooted herself closer to him.

"Well, I really enjoyed it. Do you think we could do it again?" She was prepared for either answer. Her mind had been so clouded when he was drinking from her that she wasn't entirely sure how much blood he had actually taken from her.

"No," Stefan answered immediately. "I've taken more than enough already. But..." The bashful look from mere moments before reappeared on his handsome face. "There _is _another way you could feel something similar to what you felt before. However, i'm unsure if you would like it or not."

Elena smiled and leaned her head on his firm shoulder. "Tell me."

She could tell that he was a little nervous about what he was about to say. "There's a process...called exchanging blood. It's normally a way vampires show deep affection and it would force a bound between us. But to complete the exchange, you would have to drink some of _my _blood."

Elena wouldn't lie to herself. The idea did seem rather strange to her. She wasn't sure if she could make herself do it...drink blood. But Stefan was already nervous enough as it was, so she wasn't going to voice those thoughts out loud.

But...she loved Stefan. And she trusted him. And the idea of being bonded to him in whatever way..._did _sound appealing.

She nodded her head. "Alright. I want to do it."

Stefan only seemed a little surprised. "Are you sure?"

"I am. But..." Now it was her turn to flush. "I don't really know how to start."

Stefan chuckled. "I'll start by placing a cut on my neck since you obviously don't have any fangs. But if you end up changing your mind, just tell me."

"I will. But i'm sure that I won't," Elena replied firmly.

Stefan then grabbed a small pocketknife that had been resting on the table beside the sofa and raised it up to the side of his neck. And then, without flinching, he pressed the blade gently over the side of his neck, like a soft caress.

Elena watched as a tiny trickle of blood began to ooze from the place the knife had grazed and began to mentally prepare herself for what was to come next.

"Do I just drink from there?"

"Yes," Stefan answered. "But as I said before, you can..."

She didn't allow him to finish that sentence, a bit impatient towards his over-carefulness of her. She latched her mouth delicately onto the tiny wound and forced herself to forget her instincts to turn away and drink.

The blood...was unlike anything she had ever tasted before. It didn't taste anything like normal blood. There was an almost magical tint to it that made it strangely addicting, despite the fact that she deep down knew she would have been disgusted by the very thought of an action like this not too long ago.

_I love you Elena._

If Elena hadn't been preoccupied with drinking the blood, she might have gasped at the sudden sound of Stefan's voice in her mind.

Was this part of the bond that they were currently forging? The ability to speak into each other's minds?

As she continued to drink, she tried to concentrate on the words echoing in her mind...attempting to send a message of her own back to him in response, to see if she could do it and if it hadn't just been in her imagination.

_I love you too, Stefan._

Mentally, Elena smiled in happiness and success.

In the end, Stefan had to be the one to pull away first, gently moving his wounded neck away from her lips. After they had parted, Elena continued to rest in the circle of his arms, slightly dazed from the experience.

"Are you alright?" Stefan asked as he held her tenderly, running his fingers soothingly through her long, golden hair.

Elena responded by cuddling further into him. "Yes. It was perfect. Thank you, my love."

They laid there on the couch, with their arm wrapped around each other, for the rest of the evening.

* * *

**Meredith**

Meredith was in a bit of disbelief at her current situation and location.

She was lying in Sage's bed...naked, and with his fast asleep beside her.

It had happened so quickly and suddenly. After all, their relationship had still been healing and they should have been discussing more important matters rather than having sex.

Meredith didn't normally consider herself an impulsive person. She always thought things through before she acted. But Sage had been so sad and alone the night before. Things had simply spiraled out of control.

* * *

___**Flashback**_

_"Sage."_

_Meredith received no reply from the golden eyed vampire and she let out a tired sigh. She walked over to stand in front of him, unwavering._

_"Sage, look at me."_

_Surprisingly__, he obeyed her order this time, but remained completely silent. Meredith kept her grey eyes locked with his golden ones as she continued. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know that nothing I say could possibly be able to make you feel better right now, in this moment and time." He gaze grew more serious. "Queen Drina was a good woman. I didn't know her very well personally, but..."_

_Sage then reached over to give her hand a light squeeze. "It'a alright Meredith. I know."_

_She was normally so much better at comforting people. But then again, she's never had to deal with an actual death of a family member before. She had no way of trying to relate to how he could be feeling right now, and it made a slight tinge of desperation to course through her. _

_In the middle of her rapid thought processes, she barely noticed that Sage had pressed his lips to hers, the kiss being feather light and gentle, but still very present nonetheless. He then broke away, self shame swimming in his orbs, as though he felt guilty for kissing her without her direct permission. _

_Meredith managed a mild smile. "It's alright."_

_He wrapped his arms around her and she allowed him to hold her for a few silent, peaceful moments until his voice, fragile with grief, spoke up once more._

_"I know I should talk about it to someone...and that the best person would be you, but I just can't write now."_

_"It's alright," Meredith repeated soothingly, giving his shoulder a gentle squeeze. "Everyone grieves differently. Don't be ashamed of how you decide to handle it. We will talk when you're ready."_

_She wasn't going to push him. She knew better than that. In the end, pushing would most likely only serve to cause him to isolate himself from her further. So she would leave him be, for now._

_Sage placed a handle under chin. "I don't mean to invade your space, mademoiselle, and you are free to say no if you wish, but...would you mind sharing my bed tonight? I don't want to be alone."_

_Meredith had been thinking about talking to Sage about officially moving into his room with him anyway. And she could still feel the aching sadness running off of him in waves. _

_"I don't mind," she responded, without a moment's hesitation. _

* * *

At the beginning, the plan was to _only _sleep in the same bed and possibly cuddle. But then they started to kiss and one thing led to another and soon, they were both stripped naked and rolling around in his bed sheets.

Meredith wasn't sure what to think of it. She didn't regret what happened per se, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel that the timing had been inappropriate. Shouldn't Sage be spending his time coming to terms with his mother's death instead of having sex?

"You're awake."

Sage's sudden remark caught Meredith a little off guard but only because she had been almost entirely lost in her inner musings and mental debates with herself. However, she was quick to turn in his direction and acknowledge his words.

"Yes."

Sage smiled and leaned forward to give her a light kiss. Meredith kissed him back, despite the war currently raging on in her head.

When they broke apart, skepticism flooded his gaze as he regarded her. "Is something wrong?"

For once, Meredith wasn't quite sure how to answer him. But after only a moment's thought, she decided that it would be best to just be completely blunt and upfront about everything.

"I'm not sure if last night was a good idea."

Fear flashed in his eyes and it was clear that he was taking her words in the wrong way. "Do you regret it?"

"Not entirely. I...only wonder if having sex is the right thing to do after your mother just died," Meredith replied carefully. "I won't judge your way of grieving but I feel guilty. Shouldn't your mind me on your mother instead of me?"

She was relieved to get all of that out.

"Meredith," Sage murmured in a raspy voice. She couldn't decide if it saddened like he was more relieved by her reply or confused. He gathered her into his arms, holding her against his bare chest and leaned his face into the crook of her neck as he said his next words. "I am well aware that I need to come to terms with what happened and speak to someone about it...but I assure you, the last thing I want to focus on while I am with you...like _this_ is the sadness that this event has brought to me."

Meredith wanted to continue to argue with him. Tell him that what he said was the _point. _That he should be taking the time to properly grieve his mother. The words were sitting on her tongue, ready to be released, he continued.

"Meredith, I love you. And last night...when you were with me, despite the terrible circumstances, brought me the most peace and happiness that you could bring me in this dark time."

This time, her steely walls broke a little and her grey eyes watered slightly. "I love you too."

There was so much more she wanted to talk to him about. She wanted to voice her suspicions about the blonde, unapproachable vampire that she knew had stalked Bonnie on more than one occasion and had a very apparent dislike of Damon...a dislike that could have easily led to him falsely accusing Damon, but she knew he didn't want to hear it at the moment.

And when he kissed her in a _very _intimate location that made a low gasp escape her lips, she decided that perhaps it could wait.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

Damon had been gone for almost thirty minutes now, and I was beginning to grow anxious.

When he told me to wait up for him, naked in his bed, I had expected that his errand wouldn't take that long. Now I was beginning to worry that either something bad happened, or that the errand was turning into something much more drastic than what he had expected.

I wasn't sure which situation would be worse.

I had just made my decision to get up, dress myself, and head out to look for him despite his request for me to wait, when the door suddenly swung open, causing my eyes to widen drastically as I flung the blanket back over my naked body, my cheeks burning.

When I realized that the person who had walked abruptly into the room was Damon, I heaved out a sigh of utter relief and allowed my mortification to disappear. Damon had already seen plenty of my naked body, after all. "It's just you."

But when I noticed the very serious and almost frantic look in his dark eyes, the relaxation I had momentarily felt at his return completely dissipated.

"What's wrong?"

He threw my clothes in my direction. "Get dressed, redbird. And quickly. We need to leave."

Leave? Where? I was beginning to grow scared, and his lack of information was making it worse. Even so, I quickly begin to get dressed. Whatever was going on, it was obviously important.

As I pulled on my shirt, underwear, and jeans, Damon was carrying a leather beg around the room, stuffing random things into it frantically. It looked like he was packing for some sort of vacation...in a rush.

After I was dressed, I bravely approached him and placed a hand gently on his chest to attempt to halt his motions, a pleading look on my face as I stared up at him. "Damon, please. What's going on...and where are we going?"

Despite the fact that he was still obviously very serious and frantic, he took the time to gently cup my cheeks with his hands, stroking the left one soothingly with his thumb.

His next words caused another course of fear to run through me.

"They want to take you away from me, little redbird. But i'm not going to let them. We're going to run."

* * *

**So this chapter was longer than the last one...yay for me XD**

**Coming up next:**

**- Damon and Bonnie run away from the castle and Damon reveals what happened on his "errand". **

**- A Klaus POV (for those who wanted it :)) and an update on the Caroline situation. **

**- Meredith and Elena deal with Bonnie's sudden disappearance. **

**- Sage and Stefan have a conversation concerning Drina's death and Damon. **

**Also, for those of you that are waiting for vampire/witch babies...all I can say is be patient ;) Hehe**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

**Bonnie's POV**

**(A few hours later)**

I breathed in a large gulp of air as I stared down at the ground far below me.

Damon and I were standing on the ledge of the quarter's large window, preparing to jump in order to escape the castle without anyone spotting us. The only problem was that I was terrified of heights.

Obviously sensing my stiffness, Damon placed a gentle hand on my arm as he stood behind me, stroking my skin lightly. "You don't have to look. You can close your eyes and i'll tell you when it's over."

"You still haven't told me _why _we have to leave," I reminded him softly.

"I know little redbird. And I will explain everything to you as soon as we are a safe distance away from the castle. For now, I need you to just trust me."

"I...okay." I breathed in another gulp of air in an attempt to calm myself at least a little. I then closed my eyes, just as he had instructed me to. "I trust you Damon."

I them felt his arms wrap around me, lifting me up before the exhilarating feeling of falling and cool, night air began hitting my face.

Once the air surrounding me seemed to be steady once again, I heard his silky voice whisper; "You can open your eyes now."

Feeling relieved, my eyes flew open at hearing his reassurance, seeing that we were now standing in the castle grounds.

"We have to move quickly," Damon urged before dragging me in the direction of the ground's back exit. "My little brother can distract King Christian for only so long."

"Stefan is helping?"

"Yes. I informed him of the situation before I came back to the quarters."

This piece of information caused me to become even more afraid than I had been before. If Damon had felt like he needed to ask Stefan for help, the situation _must _be bad. _  
_

We continued to quickly walk in the direction of the forest surrounding the exit and eventually, Damon suddenly scooped me up into his arms and began to carry me. "We'll move faster this way," he explained before beginning to run.

With this new form of travel, we reached the forest in a matter of seconds and it wasn't until I was sure we must have been about halfway through it that Damon finally placed me back down onto my feet.

"We should be safe for a while. If my brother keeps his word our disappearance from the castle shouldn't be discovered by anyone until morning."

I nodded in response to his words and we lapsed into silence as we descended further into the woods, hand-in-hand. That is, until I decided to take the opportunity to try asking questions again.

"Where are we going?"

"To the human world," Damon said, his voice serious. "I know of a portal we can use to get there. It's the place King Christian would least expect me to run away to."

At his words, I found myself pondering the situation once again. Now Damon was willing to go into the human world in order to hide. _What _was wrong? My fear rose a little more.

"Damon...will you tell me what happened now?"

Silence ensued for a few moments before he let out a deep sigh. "Alright. But we must keep walking as I explain it to you."

"Of course," I said with a light smile, trying to reassure him, although I wasn't really sure if he could even see it in the dark or not.

He squeezed my hand gently as we continued to walk, his voice remaining stony as he began to tell the story. "When I left for that meeting with King Christian...he didn't give me good news," he said tightly, and I could tell that his jaw was now rigid with anger. "It seems that my punishment wasn't quite over. They wanted to strip me of my right to marry you and engage you to a different vampire."

And then everything was clear. He was desperate to get us both away from the castle because he didn't want to see me married off to someone else. And I also couldn't stand the idea of marrying anyone but him.

"But I refuse to allow that to happen," Damon insisted passionately, confirming my thoughts. "I won't let them take you away from me. Not ever."

Despite my current fear, a small amount of butterflies began to flutter in my stomach at his words. I gave him another small smile. "Good. Because I don't ever want them to take you away from me either."

And then suddenly, before I could even fully comprehend what was happening, I was in his arms and we were kissing, our lips moving against each other's fervently, my arms going around his neck while his went around my waist. I wasn't entirely sure how long we stood like that...time had no place in my mind at that moment. But eventually, the loud sound of wood snapping made us pull apart. I jumped into his arms in fright, my body shaking.

"What was that?"

Damon leaned down and planted a comforting kiss on my forehead. "It was more than likely a deer. Relax."

Although his reassurance did bring me a little comfort, I still couldn't help but take a moment to gaze out into the dark mass of trees for any sign of something suspicious...but could find nothing.

In my distraction, Damon used the moment to suddenly scoop me up into his arms.

"Hey!" I exclaimed in a whispered voice and despite my wariness from moment's before, I also let out a light giggle. "What was that for?"

Damon shot me a grin before pecking me on the lips. "You must be exhausted. It is late, after all. I will carry you and allow you to possibly get some rest."

"What about you?"

"Vampires are relatively nocturnal beings. I will be fine. And if I must, I could always get some sleep once we reach a more safe and secure location."

A part of me wanted to try arguing with him a little more but I _was _tired. I let out a yawn as I cuddled further into his arms, which were now holding me in a cradle-like fashion so that I was lying on my back. "Okay."

"Get some sleep, my sweet songbird. We will be at our desired destination soon."

* * *

**Klaus**

Klaus stared down at the female witch lying on the bed.

Caroline Forbes. She was a natural beauty with her auburn hair and glowing green eyes and while a small part of him could appreciate that on some level, that wasn't the reason he was regarding her so proudly now.

His entire focus was currently on her stomach.

They had only been engaged for a couple of weeks now and he had already successfully impregnated his witch...a feat that Damon Salvatore had yet to complete with his own little redheaded witch.

Damon Salvatore. In the past, the name would have sent a wave of fury to course through the blonde vampire's very being violently but now, he only felt smugness and satisfaction. The plan was going smoothly and he was slowly but surely becoming successful in ruining Damon Salvatore's existence. He has already had him stripped of his title as one of the king's much trusted advisers and placed him in the process of losing his little witch pet.

The only regret Klaus had was that he wouldn't get to be the vampire that Damon's witch would be forced to marry. It would have given him a great joy to see the pain flash in the elder Salvatore's eyes every time he saw the redheaded witch as Klaus's wife, or better yet, her stomach swelled with _his _child. But he supposed he could be more than content with what he _had _accomplished.

A sudden knock on his quarter's door broke his concentration and train of thought. Under normal circumstances, Klaus might have been vastly aggravated at such an intrusion but he was fairly certain that he already knew who it was. With a smug smirk, he walked over to the door to answer it.

When he opened it, the person was revealed to be exactly who he had expected.

Katherine.

"The king is completely convinced that Damon was involved in the queen's death," Katherine said brightly, clearly pleased with herself. "There are no doubts in his mind."

"Perfect," Klaus replied. "You did well. You were able to sneak that stake into that fool's quarters with him being none the wiser. You have redeemed yourself, Katherine."

And indeed she had. Klaus had been reluctant to enlist her help at all, considering she had played a part along with Damon to ruin his position all those years ago but the female vampire had actually proven to be very useful.

It was a bit of a shame that it would have to end the way it had to...

"You've done very well, my dear. Would you care to come inside for a few moments so I may offer my thanks more properly? Perhaps with a drink or two?"

Katherine frowned. "What about your witch?"

"Pay her no mind. She is fast asleep."

After one last brief hesitation, Katherine took his offer and stepped into the quarters.

_Well, that was easier than I had expected it to be, _Klaus distantly thought to himself.

After Katherine had stepped into the quarters, the door was firmly closed and Klaus walked over to the kitchen counter, pulling out a bottle of Black Magic wine from one of the cupboards. As he began to pour them both glasses, he spoke in a flat voice. "I hope the errands haven't troubled you too much."

"Not at all," Katherine was quick to answer. "I had to make up for my past indiscretions."

"Indeed you had."

Klaus walked over to stand in front of her, handing her one of the glasses of wine. "But as I stated before, you have cleared your own name with the help you have given me. Unfortunately, I can't have any witnesses to what I have done. But I will give you a quick death for your efforts."

And then, before she could get a word out in response, he plunged the stake he had hidden behind his back directly into her heart, knowing that such an act would only take seconds to kill her.

The act had the desired effect. In a few quick moments, Katherine's skin grayed and she fell onto the ground with a thud, the glass she had been holding shatters and splattering wine onto the floor.

The noise was enough to wake Caroline from her sleep. The auburn-haired with bolted up in her place on the bed, her eyes widening even further as she caught sight of Katherine's body lying on the floor.

"What the hell happened?" Despite the conviction of her words, her tone was shaky.

"Nothing that you need to be concerned about, my pet," Klaus replied flatly. He walked over to stand in front of her, looking directly into her eyes. "Now be a good girl and go back to sleep," he ordered, his voice laced with the power of compulsion.

As expected, Caroline's eyes glazed over and her body slumped heavily back down onto the bed, instantly falling back asleep.

After Klaus was sure that she really was deeply asleep, he turned his attention back towards Katherine's body, grabbing it firmly.

If he was careful, perhaps he could take it outside in the woods and burn it into ashes. It was much more preferable than having to hide it in the quarters.

* * *

**Meredith**

**(The next day)**

Today was a sad day. It was the day of Queen Drina's funeral.

Meredith stood among the crowd of mourners and subjects, watching as they lowered the queen's casket into the large hold in the ground that had been dug up elegantly.

Although the raven haired witch hadn't known the queen very well personally, she still could feel the waves of sadness washing over her, especially whenever she looked at King Christian's face...his sadness evident, even as he obviously fought to keep his expression professional. The grief he held over his dead wife was apparent.

But even more than that, Meredith could feel the tragedy of the situation through her fiance, whose hand she currently held as he watched as they buried his mother, his smoldering, golden eyes filled with complete anguish. She gave his land a light squeeze, trying to comfort him with words since she couldn't speak.

Her concentration was broken when she felt a tap at her shoulder, and a whispered voice. "Meredith."

She turned to see that it was Elena...and the expression on the blonde's face indicated that whatever she had to say was vastly important. Meredith gave her a short nod before she turned to face Sage's direction, her gaze now apologetic.

"Sage, would you mind if I spoke with Elena for a few moments? I promise that I won't be gone long."

Sage gave her a small, sad smile before leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "Of course not."

Meredith kissed his cheek in a gesture of giving him her thanks before she allowed Elena to drag her away. They didn't speak until they were in a secure place; a good twenty feet away from the funeral ceremony. And when they did speak, their words remained whispered.

"Have you seen Bonnie at all today?"

Meredith frowned lightly in thought at the question, realizing that she hadn't. "No, I haven't. Maybe she and Damon are in some sort of quarantine?"

Elena shook her head rapidly. "There's something strange going on Meredith...for some reason, I...I feel as though Damon and Bonnie aren't in the castle at all anymore. And Stefan has been acting strange lately...like he knows something. But he won't say a word about it to me."

Meredith took a moment to ponder this new information. On one hand, she could pass this off as Elena simply being paranoid, but on the other...she also had some very troubling thoughts on the situation. Thoughts that she needed to share with someone.

"We need to go back and watch the funeral, or they might start getting suspicious," Meredith whispered gravely. "But later tonight, meet me at Sage's quarters. We can talk then."

"Alright."

The two girls then turned back to brave the mass of vampires.

* * *

**Bonnie's POV**

As Damon and I laid in bed, I gently traced his chest with my fingers absentmindedly.

We were in a inn that according to Damon, was right outside the portal we would use tomorrow to get into the human world. Now that we seemed to be in a location that was a good distance away from the castle, Damon seemed a lot calmer although his guard still wasn't completely down.

"Damon? When we get to the human world, where are we going to go exactly?"

I had never been to the human world, but I knew about it. We had learned about it constantly back in Mrs. Lorezzo's class at home. I knew that there were countries, cities, and different climates. But that was mostly how long my knowledge of it extended.

"There's a small town in the Southern part of the United States called Fells Church. I have an old...friend that will probably be able to help us."

Under normal circumstances, I might have asked him more about who this 'friend' was, but at the moment, my mind was currently consumed with others thoughts. Fears.

I was afraid that we would eventually get caught...and that I would be torn away from him and married off to a different vampire. It was strange. When we first met, I dreaded the idea of having to eventually marry him but now I didn't want to imagine life being married to anyone but him.

"I have another question," I eventually say bravely. I was a little shy about asking it and to make that clear, I could feel my cheeks heat up. But it had been something I had been pondering ever since he told me why we were running away. "You said before that the main purpose of us being engaged was so we could have hybrid children, right? Like what Sage is?"

Looking mildly curious, Damon nodded his head. "Yes. That was the main goal of it."

Now here was the embarrassing part. "So um...if I were pregnant, would that make them less likely to have me marry someone else?"

His dark eyes actually widened a little this time. "Little redbird..."

"Would it?" I persisted.

"Perhaps. There's a chance it would," Damon eventually answered, his expression cautious. "But redbird, I don't want you to feel pressured..."

"I don't feel pressured," I reassure him. "I mean yes, a part of why i'm...suggesting this is so I can become pregnant and avoid being married to someone else, but it's always because I want to do it." My blush became even more apparent. "I...I love you Damon and...I enjoyed it last time. Please make love to me again."

After a brief hesitation, as if checking to make sure I was being truthful with him, he draws me into his arms and presses his cool lips heatedly against mine, and I knew that we were now on the same page.

* * *

**A/N: Eh this chapter was kind of lame but I hope everyone semi-enjoyed it anyway lol. And I know in my last update I said that there was going to be a conversation between Stefan and Sage in this chapter, but I decided to put it in the beginning of the next chapter instead. Hope no one is disappointed about that. **

**Next chapter:**

**- A conversation between Sage and Stefan about Damon and we find out what Stefan did to distraction King Christian. **

**- Damon and Bonnie arrive in Fells Church and visit Damon's 'friend'.**

**- Meredith and Elena do some investigation of Klaus. **

**Until next time! **


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